The Swords of Primus & Unicron I
by optimusprimus001
Summary: When Shiori met them, they said they were from a dimension called EnergonArmada. When they left, she joined them, and her life took a new turn full of mysteries... But few knew that it would become permanent.
1. Beginnings

**Chapter 1**

In all of the other dimensions he was a hero, the light in the darkened times, a supreme leader on one side of a planet-wide war. _If they only knew..._ the millenia-old Autobot thought wearily. If they truly knew what he, Optimus Prime, did on most of his little 'trips' he wouldn't be suprised if they wanted to take away his position as Supreme Commander and unquestioned leader. Even if they did, it wouldn't stop him from what he did- he had to continue or he would end up taking more lives than those he'd lost over the thousands of centuries in his life. He'd lost several friends and family members throughout the wars, not to mention part of himself.

A large amount of his armor had been seriously damaged in the last battle he'd gone through, even if the weapon charges had been considerably weaker than what he was used to. Which partially explained why his armor seemed to have decided in its own right to be blue and silver instead of its normal combination of red, blue, silver and gold. Recalling the faces and names of his fallen followers from that battle, as well as others long past, he bowed his head in silent respect for their sparks. As he did, his mind began to focus on what had _really_ caused the change in his armor color, the darkest part of him (aside from his armor) was his spark-light; which, for its part, was now pulsing a middle gray instead of its normal light blue-gold color.

_Shiori, Cheryl, Elita... Is this what was forseen? That your missing presences would somehow lead me to this dark place within myself? Who would think that after all of the spark-jumps I have done through dimensions, it would eventually lead me to a dimension where war is not neccessary? Only to have me face my emotions by going through time and dimensions? Forced to be a mercenary to prevent myself from going out of my mind and giving in to the darkness?_

No, it was better his followers didn't know where he went and what went through his mind at times like these. Of course, that didn't stop his second in command from being persistant- that was how the winged mech had discovered the dark secret he held inside in the first place. Suddenly reminded of his green and white comrade, he lifted his head and looked over the console, searching for the familiar presence with his mind and spark. A small feeling of amusement touched his mind from behind him, accompanied by a soft chuckle. _Prankster,_ the commander thought, turning his head to face the other mech.

"You know you can't sneak up on me, Jetfire. I'm getting too good for you to do that anymore."

"Really, Optimus? An' I thought I'd gotten away with it," Jetfire teased him, the green and white head tilting slightly to the side. _I won't point it out, but you normally get away with it,_ Optimus thought stubbornly. Then he caught on to another feeling...

"There's something else, isn't there?" he asked. Jetfire looked at him with growing respect.

"You _are_ gettin' good," he admitted, shaking his head. "We've a few stowaways in the cargo hold. Do'ya want to turn back and kick 'em out, or keep 'em?"

Optimus looked at the viewport screen thoughtfully. _I may not want them to know, but I can't hide my secret forever. Starscream is the only Decepticon I feel on board, and he isn't a full Decepticon any more..._ Jetfire tilted his head the other way, waiting for an answer. Getting tired of waiting, Jetfire gave him a long, hard look.

"Optimus?" Jetfire inquired, slightly irritated.

Silence.

"Com'on Optimus... this _really _ain't funny... what're we gonna do about-"

"I'll deal with them."

Jetfire blinked his optics. "You'll deal with 'em? What're ya gonna do?"

Optimus stood up and turned to face him with an amused glimmer in his now-silver optics before answering, "I'm going to have some fun." He then turned, sweeping on a black cloak and started down the hallway to the cargo hold.

* * *

Jetfire watched him leave the room, once again marveling at the strange, silver scar that ran from Optimus' right shoulder to his lower left back before it was hidden by the cloak. Jetfire wasn't all that concerned on where the scar had origionally came from because he had been nearby when it was put there. What really concerned Jetfire was the fact that the scar itself was part of a sparked-sword, and the sword hadn't healed the wound it's earlier version had made- the _Seerevah _had sewn the wound together with part of _itself_. Forcing the thought out of his mind, Jetfire turned to the console and checked their time and course.

* * *

_Have fun, huh? What have you gotten yourself into, Optimus?_ Optimus thought to himself as he continued down the hallway, noting the humming sound in his silver spark-sword pressed against the scar in his back. He listened to it for a moment, then thought, _Alright... What have we gotten ourselves into? It still doesn't change the situation._ The sword hummed even stronger, and a soft hiss escaped Optimus. _That _hurts_! Seerevah!_ The Seerevah stopped humming and pointed out something in a nearby room with its presence. Optimus turned his own senses in the same direction, and found several autobot presences within the room, along with Starscream's double presence. With a small smile, he started towards the room, now able to hear Red Alert and Vector Prime argueing with each other... 


	2. Arguments

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Transformers that are in this chapter, or the previous one.

However, all of the confusing secrets, the havoc caused in (and by) this fanfic, and the swords of Primus and Unicron _ARE _MINE! BWAHAHAHA!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"This was _your_ idea, Vector Prime! If we hadn't listened to you, we wouldn't be stuck in a ship with a mind of its own!" Red Alert said angrily.

"This ship does not have a 'mind of its own', Red Alert. It is impossible," the ancient mech countered.

"Don't you even try to tell me that something is impossible when it is!"

"I have not seen such proof that a ship of this size can have a mind of its own."

"Vector Prime! Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean that it might not exist!" Red Alert's voice was increasing its volume. _This is rare, Red Alert normally isn't the bot to yell at anyone._

"Perhaps, but until it is proven, it is not so," Vector Prime said stubbornly.

"ARGH! VECTOR PRIME! DON'T YOU EVER GIVE UP!" Red Alert shouted, throwing his arms into the air in fustration. Starscream leaned against the wall of the room that they were in, following the argument closely. _This would be fun to see how it turns out_, he thought. As he listened to them, he gradually became aware something in the room with them.

_We're being watched_, he realized. Pushing the arguement between the Vector Prime and Red Alert out of his mind, Starscream looked around. _Lets see... One annoying Hot Shot, an insistent Red Alert, and a more insistent Vector Prime... Inferno, Blurr, First Aid, Smokescreen, and Sideswipe. We're all here. But then... Who is it I feel watching us?_ he wondered. Concentrating on the spark he felt watching them, he gradually found himself _inside_ it. _Who are you?_ he thought fiercly.

_Surely you haven't forgotten me in less than ten hours, Starscream,_ the sharp, familiar thought came back at him, startling the seeker._ Optimus...?_ he began to ask. He was cut off with a bright-hot, searing pain that flashed through his mind, full of raw energy. With a vocal yelp, he jerked away from the spark, leaping away from the wall he'd been leaning against.

"What is it, Starscream?" came Hot Shot's voice, full of alarm.

"He's coming." Starscream breathed, still hurting from the mental attack.

"Who's coming?" Red Alert demanded, his voice still heated from his argument with Vector Prime. Starscream glared at him, and said, "He heard _all_ of us. Now we have to deal with him."

"That did not answer the question, Starscream," Vector Prime noted.

"That's not my problem! I'm trying to _warn_ you about something! We practically boarded his ship without permission and now we have to-"

"Have to _what_, Starscream?" a soft, challenging voice cut in from behind him. He whirled around and found himself face to face with Optimus, who was watching his reaction with amusement. _So much for coming up with a plan to defend ourselves with_..._ wait... why would i want to do that anyways?... OPTIMUS! You low-down little..._ Starscream glared at Optimus. _Soo... you've learned to try to influence the feelings of those around you. Well, you certianly are clever, but not quite clever enough for me.._.

"Do you _ever_ cease to be a source of fustration?" he growled at Optimus, looking the Autobot over, searching for the silver sword he knew was hidden somewhere with the Autobot commander. _He can't hide a sword like that very well, so where _is _it?_

"No, I don't suppose that I do. Maybe when you've fought Megatron non-stop for forty-five million years, you'd know that answer without having to ask," Optimus said flatly.

"_Megatron hasn't been alive for fourty-five million years!_"

"I guess you don't know him as much as you thought you did, then."

"WHAT!" Starscream shouted, not willing to believe that Megatron could really be _that_ much older than himself. _And I only have thirty million years of age! But then... How old does that make Optimus? That would make him at least seventeen million years older than I am! He looks younger than that!_ Starscream stared at the Autobot in front of him._ Maybe I should give him a little more credit than looks buy him_, he thought in awe as Optimus turned away from Starscream, looking around at everyone else.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get back up to the bridge before we pull out of the warp system," Optimus said, turning to the door, "If you'd follow me..."

Starscream and the others glanced at each other. One glance told Starscream all he needed to know to make his decision. Turning, he followed Optimus down the hallway...


	3. Dimensions

Okay... Since I'm not getting anything but some very confused instant messages and reviews... Maybe this one will clear up some things. And please review... (sighs) I would like some feedback, even if it is long and attacks some of the oddities in the characters. Thank you to those who do review, it is for you that I continue this Fanfic for.

* * *

**3. Dimensions**

Jetfire was making the final adjustments to the ship's course when Optimus returned. Glancing up, he nodded to Optimus before going back to the data flashing across the screen in front of him.

"We're jus' about to pull out of the time warp. Everyone should buckle up!" He said happily, running through the data again quickly to make sure it was right. There was a soft murmur of voices behind him and he looked back up to find all of the "stowaways" had followed the commander to the bridge. Turning back to Optimus he said, "I guess you got 'em all."

"You expected less, Jetfire?" Optimus countered before pulling his cloak off and sitting in his place in front of the command console. Jetfire sighed and reached out to a purple flashing light-button on the keyboard. Everyone except Optimus and himself gasped as the entire ship seemed to jump and start shuddering. A few moments after the ship stopped shaking, Jetfire looked behind him at their new passengers and couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny, Jetfire!" Smokescreen growled, trying to pry his feet loose from the invisible clamps that seemed to have them stuck to the floor. Hot Shot was howling something about his traction systems being in disarray as Red Alert shouted at him to be quiet while he was trying to work out a similar problem. Inferno was looking around without a word as if nothing was wrong while Blurr made up for Inferno's silence with various curses while struggling to get free himself. First Aid, who was near the front of the group, sighed before turning his head to stare listlessly out the viewport. Sideswipe was trying to calm Hot Shot down while watching everyone curiously and trying to get free all at the same time- and with Hot Shot in the mix, that was rather hard to do. Starscream, however, was the only one to get right to the source of the problem. Narrowed, red-orange optics were focused on Optimus, along with the furious look the seeker was giving the Autobot Commander.

"Let go of our feet, Optimus," Starscream said in a soft, dangerous voice. Behind him, Vector Prime laughed, breaking the dangerous face the seeker was trying to put on. _I don't think trying to threaten him'll work when you can't move very well... Course guns on the other hand are an entirely different story... _Jetfire grinned, and turning to Optimus, asked jokingly, "Suppose we _ought_ to let 'em loose. They are our guests, after all. Right?"

"But of course," was the amused answer. Seconds later, a sharp yelp escaped Smokesceen as he abruptly fell over from his own attempt to dislodge himself after the grip on his feet was gone. Jetfire couldn't help but break out laughing again.

"You aren't helping, Jetfire," the blue mech sighed, sitting up from the ground. _Is that really a way to show me thanks? I gotcha free, sort of, didn't I?_ Jetfire chuckled to himself as the thought ran though his mind. _He'd have my wings if I said that out loud..._

"Jetfire!" Vector Prime said urgently. He jumped slightly, turning to face the ancient mech at the same time. Jetfire sighed, and looked at Vector Prime questioningly and asked, "What?"

"Would mind answering a question for some of us?"

"I might," Jetfire said cautiously, glancing at Optimus wonderingly. Optimus ignored him. _Blast it, Prime... A 'lil help here would be nice every now an' then..._

"Would you mind telling me and the others... Just where we are going and what dimension are we headed to?" Vector Prime asked curiously.

"We jus' jumped out of the timeframe, we're headed through dimensions right now. Our dimension is referred to as the Cybertron Dimension... Although we're really a part of a dimension called the Armada-Energon Dimension. We've gone through time, and we're now going through dimensions back to Generation 1. Does that answer yer question?"

"No, that does not make sense... Where did we start out in the first place?" Vector Prime asked, now confused by the explaination Jetfire had given him. Jetfire sighed, _I just told you the answer to that question already, Vector... Do I seriously need to repeat it?_

"We're in between dimensions on board the _Mrrisst_. We've left our dimension and are going to the Generation dimensions," He said, trying to simplify his explanation for the old mech.

"Which dimension..?"

"We aren't IN dimension as of right now, Vector Prime," Jetfire growled, starting to get fustrated with the bot.

"I asked 'which dimension we are going to?' You did not let me finish my previous question."

"Because I answered that question already! We're goin' to the Generation Dimension."

"There is more than one of those," Vector Prime sighed.

"The first Generation of the Generation Dimension. Happy now?" Jetfire growled, his red optic-line flickering irritably.

"Thank you for finally establishing that," Vector Prime said with a nod before turning away and going over to Red Alert. Red Alert was trying to get Hot Shot to sit down and let him look at the racer's traction systems, without any luck. Jetfire calmed himself, and then looked around at the wide group that they had as guests.

"You guys might want to sit down and put yer seatbelts on. Comin' out of the dimension warp usually isn't quite as friendly as the time warp is," he said warningly. They nodded, and followed his advice, and headed up a level to the viewing room where they seated themselves. He turned back to his console, checking the _Mrrisst_'s distance to the end of the dimension-jump.

"We're here," Optimus said a few moments later, and Jetfire immediately pulled a lever in the console. Seconds later, the nose of the ship was suddenly visible out of the viewport, pointed straight ahead to a very familiar-looking planet. Jetfire turned on the internal intercom and said, "Welcome... to the Generation Dimension's Cybertron..."


	4. Arrival

Sorry guys, I've been up against a brick wall for a month and still have a chapter to get together before im caught up with my daydreaming... (sigh) But in any case, here_'s_ a new (although admittedly short) for you guys to chew on until then... ;

* * *

**4. Arrival**

Cybertron. No matter where in time he went, or what dimension he was in, Cybertron always looked the same to Vector Prime. It always looked... _welcoming_... And he'd been to a lot of planets to know if something was welcoming or not. To him, Cybertron could be almost completely ruined, and still look welcoming. Of course, that was his _usual_ point of view. As Vector Prime watched their ship crawl closer and closer to the laserfire that was flashing down a vague borderline that divided Cybertron in half, he realized that they were going to go _through_ the battlefield. Explosions could be seen all along the borderline outlining the various battleships above the planet, fighting a similar battle to the one below them. Realizing the danger that could possibly emanate from flying through the battle- he decided that Cybertron didn't _always_ look welcoming.

"Uh, Jetfire?" he asked uneasily over the comm.

"What in the name of...!" the jet's startled voice came from the comm, followed by, "By Primus! 47, get the forward shields up, _NOW!_ Preferably _before _I melt your processors!"

"Acknowledgement: shields are up, Master. We are at optimum efficiency," came a deep voice in reply. Vector Prime paused a moment to look out the viewport again in time to see a faint, glimmering, red energy surround the ship as it got to the fringes of the battle. Blue laserfire poured out of the ship from all sides, blasting a path through the other starships down to the planet surface itself. Captivated by the incredible confidence that Optimus and Jetfire had in what they were doing, Vector Prime took his gaze away from the viewscreen to look into the optics of the other bots in the room. A few moments later, the entire ship was thrown into almost complete darkness: the only light sources in the room was the soft glow of the blue line-lights that ran around the room and the glowing optics of the other Transformers. For a moment, no one could think of anything to say that would break the silence of amazement.

"Wow," Hot Shot said finally, staring into the darkness outside the viewport. "Did anyone see where this... tunnel, I guess.. came from?"

"Not me," Smokescreen answered, while Red Alert shook his head.

"Where _are_ we?" Sideswipe's incredilous voice asked.

"I haven't got a _clue_, Side," Starscream growled as he peered out the viewscreen. "But that battle _did_ look familiar..."

"It did?" Vector Prime asked, curious as to why the seeker thought that.

"Don't most battles look the same?" Hot Shot spoke up, before continuing on to say, "As far as I've noticed they all look rather similar, how could that battle _not_ be different?"

Vector Prime noticed Red Alert was giving Hot Shot a very dangerous look.

"Perhaps we can continue this conversation later?" Vector Prime suggested, not wanting a fight to break out between them. At that moment, Jetfire appeared at the doorway. After a quick glance around, the Vice-Commander said, "Are you lot... uhm... ready t'get off?"

"Jetfire, can I throw this empty can at Hot Shot?" Red Alert inquired irritably, holding up an empty oil can he'd found earlier. Jetfire tilted his head curiously.

"An' why would ya wan' to do that?"

"Because, he's being recklessly ignorant again."

"How does _that_ work out, Red Alert!" Hot Shot cut in sharply. Jetfire held up a hand to silence him.

"That ain't much of an answer, Red. No, ya ain't allowed to throw it at 'im."

Vector Prime watched as Red Alert gave Jetfire a dissappointed nod. _Red Alert seems to be very fustrated about something recently. I wonder what is bothering him,_ he thought as they followed Jetfire out of the room and through the hallways of the ship...

* * *

O.o I seem to keep adding chapters _before_ I even get to the true main character...? This is bad, I'm not supposed to be doing that- It'll wreck havoc with the chapter list I've written out... O-O HELP Before I lose my sanity!... ... And please review if you read this!  



	5. Encounters

optimusprimus001 claim: Transformers is not claimed as mine, owned as mine, or shown as mine. Though I think you're all aware that the havoc caused in this fanfic (which, by the way, is begginning to pick up in this chapter ; ) _IS _mine...

Disclamer: All Autobots/Decepticons are owned by Hasbro and whomever else. HK is in reference to a Star Wars character, HK-47, and is hence liscenced to Lucas Arts Studio/Star Wars/ George Lucas. There will be about 5 possible characters based off of Star Wars characters in the future chapters, and such bases will be noted. Note: ZT-48 is based off of HK-47 (to be discribed in chapter).

Optimusprimus001: AHHHH! Rescue me from the evil of people that shall result in my inability to excel in other classes other than math due to the concern that i am inable to do mathmatical evaluations!... (realizes people are staring)... er... I'm not crazy... really... >>; I've just been working on this story too long... And not doing homework for school...

Shiori: Then why don't you leave the story for a few weeks before posting the next chapter and use the time to do homework? It is spring break after all...

Optimusprimus001: WHOOO! SPRING BREAK! (Runs around in circles, chasing megatron with a stick)

Megatron: AHHH! GET HER AWAY!

Shiori: (buries her face in her hands) Oh brother... Optimus Prime!

O.P.: Don't get me invovled... (thinking: I don't want to know... I don't want to know...)

* * *

**5. Encounters**

Growling and muttering irritably, Red Alert headed down a hallway alone. He knew he was being rather incooperative with everyone, but since when would they care about what he felt or thought? If Optimus wasn't himself, who said _he_ had to be? Hot Shot just didn't understand what war could _really_ do to a bot- he had the fortunate chance to be created near the end of the Second Great War. _What was so great about that war compared to the other wars anyways? Was there some big secret that no one told me about to make the war so much "greater" than the other wars? What made the First Great War 'great' in the first place? Fifteen million deaths on both sides? Twenty million?_ Red Alert paused. _Is it an accomplishment to have that many deaths? Why would Optimus want to go back through those dark times? Wasn't it hard enough to take those deaths _the first time_, rather than have to go through it _again_? Who in their right mind would _want _to go through that again!_

Red Alert threw his fist into the wall beside him with a growl, only to be reminded that the ship they were in was made of a reinforced metal by the sudden aching throb in his hand. Taking his hand away from the wall and cradling it in his other arm, Red Alert mentally cursed himself for not thinking about that sooner. _Of course its reinforced, Red... The ship wouldn't have survived the recoil of all that firepower it put out if it wasn't..._ Giving his hand a painful shake, he continued down the hallway, wondering why no one was following after him to make him come back. Of course, at this point he didn't particularly care why they weren't. _Who'd want me unless someone was hurt? Lately it's the only thing I'm called for anymore. When Hot Shot's tires have been shredded by a spydor droid, who comes to fix it? Red Alert. When Smokescreen gets roughed up in a training spar, who comes to repair him? Red Alert. When Optimus is damaged from one thing or another, who comes to seal the wounds and reinforce the armor? Red Alert. Always Red Alert. Why not some other noticably skilled medic? Why always... _always_... Red Alert?_

"It's not fair," Red Alert growled as he walked around a corner and found himself in a darker corridor. "Why am I the only medic around to be called on to fix everything that goes wrong? I can't be in fifteen million places at once."

"Amused Query: Who would _expect_ you to be?" came a soft voice from behind him. Startled, Red Alert whirled around and found himself face to face with a droid he hadn't seen in a long time...

"HK...? What... how in the universe...?" Red gasped, optics widening at the towering, black droid that stood before him.

"Hesitant Reply: That is a rather complicated answer as to why HK is alive. It should be sufficeint to know that it was- and always has been- possible, largely due to the Master," the droid said slowly.

"The... Master?" Red Alert asked uneasily, suddenly very aware of the fact that the droid had a long, glinting, light-blue sword in his hand. _Wait a minute, he just refered to himself in third person..._

"Confermation: Yes... The Master," the droid said, before pulling his sword back and jumping forward with a downwards slash of the light-blue blade. Stepping back, the droid watched Red Alert crumple to the ground with a deep gash in his chest armor. With a soft hiss, it said softly, "The Master... Will not be underestimated, nor disobeyed."

Red Alert looked up at the taller droid weakly, and wondered at the light blue optics the droid had. Then all he knew was the darkness...

"Unnesseccary Statement: Especially taking into account that I am not HK-47. Introduction: I am a droid, Yes. However, my designation is ZT-48..."

* * *

"Just lying there in the hallway, Sideswipe? Are you sure no one else was there?" Optimus's soft voice penetrated through Red Alert's awareness. _In a hallway? I was in a hallway... What was I doing in a hallway? _Red Alert wondered weakly.

"Yes, sir. Nobody else, though I was more worried about Red Alert's condition when I saw him..." Sideswipe's quiet answer was drowned out by a furious Hot Shot. _Are they talking about me?_...

**_... Throwing his hand into the wall, the pain of reinforced metal throbbing through his hand... Why was his chest throbbing painfully too?..._**

_What happened?_ He lay still, trying to concentrate on determining if the voices were real, but the echo of pain in his chest hurt more than his attention wanted to give. Deciding that if he could feel the after-effects of the pain in his chest circuits, then the voices had to be real. Granted, they weren't _loud_ voices, but real voices nevertheless. _Where am I?_

"What was he _thinking_!"

"Calm down, Hot Shot. We're jus' as concerned about him as you are," Jetfire's voice sounded strained, as if he was trying to hold something back...

**_... A long, blue blade slashing through his chest armor accompanied by a burning pain that tore through his circuitry..._**

"Don't you "Calm down" me! Why didn't he tell anyone where he was going!"

"Hot Shot, ya know how Red gets when he's stressed- he was probably lookin for a 'quiet place' like he usually does when things get crazy..." Jetfire trying to reason with the younger bot...

**_...A black droid with light-blue glowing optics burning into his, looking down at him..._**

"Uhhh..." Red Alert moaned weakly and instantly Optimus was beside him.

"Are you alright, Red?" He asked, concern glowing in his silver-gold optics. Red Alert coughed slightly and replied, "I think so. At least I vaguely remember what hit me, anyways..." A moment later Jetfire let out a loud yelp.

"Yeow! Hot Shot...!" and a few seconds later the teenage-ish bot was on the other side of Red Alert with a slightly furious and concerned look.

"What were you _thinking_, going off like that without telling anybody! You said yourself this ship has got a mind of its own, not to mention this place is huge!" he demanded.

"Hot Shot," Optimus began, only to be ignored by the younger bot.

"Were you just _asking_ for something to come hitcha upside the head or somethin!"

"Hot Shot!" Optimus growled with a bit more force, giving the younger bot an irritated glare.

"What!"

"Be quiet. Red Alert left before we gave the rest of you data on the ship layout, so he didn't know how big this ship is. Not to mention that he _just woke up_. Give him some leave-way, alright?"

Hot Shot looked as if he'd just been slapped. He started to protest, but decided against it, snapping his mouth shut with a nod. He then looked at Red Alert with such concern on his face that made the medic wonder just how long he'd been offline. Before he could ask the question, Jetfire came up behind Hot Shot, placed his hand on the younger bot's shoulder and said, "You've been out for almos' two days now. We repaired ya completely, but ya still need some rest... Whatever hit ya had a big energy charge behin' it."

Red Alert nodded silently while Optimus turned and slipped out of the room to leave Jetfire, Sideswipe, and Hot Shot to watch over Red Alert while he healed...

* * *

"Are you sure you want to come with us, Red?"

"Why not? Someone has to keep an optic on _you_ after all..."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Hot Shot demanded, crossing his arms and giving the medic a suspicous look. Red Alert merely shrugged and asked, "Why don't you try to figure out what it meant?"

"Well, if yer comin' then how about ya two get yer rear-wheels movin'? You two'er holdin' up the whole group," Jetfire suggested, heading down the walkway between the ship and the dock, followed by everyone else that had joined the adventure unintentionally.

"Jetfire?" Vector Prime's voice rang out from further behind the Air Commander questioningly. Jetfire paused to turn around and look at the ancient mech.

"What?"

"What is the name of this ship?"

"The _Mrrisst_, why?"

"The _Mrrisst_!" Vector Prime yelped, turning to look back at the ship, "_This_ is the legendary mercenary ship!"

"Uhm, yeah. Can I ask... _Why_ yer so suprised?" Jetfire asked hesitantly, stepping to the side so that the others could get past him.

"The _Mrrisst_... I can not believe it... _The Mrrisst_? Amazing... What an amazing condition its in!" Vector Prime breathed to himself, leaping off the walkway and transforming into his spaceship mode to get a better look at the huge battleship they'd come in. Jetfire shook his head as he turned back towards the rest of the group to find everyone had gone past and were leaving the room already.

"Hey! Don' leave us behind!" He cried and ran after them with a shout at Vector Prime to be quick about what he was doing...

* * *

"Have you ever been here, Red Alert?"

"What do you mean by 'here'?"

"Well... You know," Hot shot said vaugely, gesturing his hand around them. "To the Generation Dimension... Dimensions...?"

"Yes, I have. Though it was a long time ago during the war."

"Is that where you met Optimus, Jetfire, and the others?"

"Only Optimus was around on the battlefield back then," Red Alert laughed. "But that's where I first met the droid that attacked me the other day."

"What was the droid's name?"

"I don't know the droid's full designation number, but I never came across another one like him... We called him 'HK', but he was quite the droid..."

"What do you mean by that, Red?"

"Well, for starters he had a rather intreguing personality. A little prone to threatening and violence. Although, he knew how to back up those odd little threats of his with a plasma carbine pretty well... I suppose someone finally got him badly damaged, seeing as he used to have a rusty-red color of armor instead of the deep-black he had the other day. He had a good shot with that carbine of his..."

"Plasma carbine? I thought he attacked you with a energon sword."

"I know what he attacked me with- but you're right, it _is_ odd that he didn't have the plasma carbine with him..."

"Yeah," Hot Shot said slowly before asking, "Do you think he lives in the _Mrrisst_?"

"Maybe. I don't know, the whole situation doesnt add up right... I wonder what he's up to now."

"What do you make of it? I mean, why do you think he attacked you?"

"I don't know _what_ to make of it, Hot Shot. It's just so... so _odd_... It doesn't make sense. Why would HK show up on the ship unless he's been there the whole time? In which case the next question would be 'how did he get there in the first place?' He isn't from the Cybertron Dimension... At least, that's what he kept telling us... As for why he attacked me, there isn't a practical or half-practical reason or explaination," Red Alert sighed, tossing the empty oil can he had found several days earlier up in the air and catching it again. _There's so many questions I want to ask, but I know he might not even tell me the answers if I _did_find him again..._

"Stop! Identify yourself!" a feminine voice shouted from further ahead, making both of them stop. Hot Shot tensed as he looked in the direction the voice came from. As Red Alert looked in the same direction, he asked, "Who said that?"

"I dunno... Do you think we should check it out, Red?" Hot Shot asked worriedly.

"Well, considering Optimus is up there- Wait a minute! Where are you going!" Red Alert broke off as Hot Shot leapt forward and ran down the hallway. Red Alert followed him, muttering "So much for _my_ opinion about what we should do..."

As Hot Shot ran ahead, Optimus's clear voice echoed back with the reply "I think I'll pass on the 'Identifying myself' part, thank you." A few moments later, a resounding crash echoed down the hallway, followed by a shout from Jetfire...

* * *

Alright... Since I have the next two chapters _done_ already... I think I'm going to work on homework for a few weeks before posting the next chapter. Maybe I'll work on some of the other unfinished chapters in that span of time and post another chapter sooner. Or maybe not...

Note to Spirit Prime: Thanks for the advice, but I've tried that before. ; It doesnt help much. Writing fanfics like this does, and so that is what I am going to do- and post them for your amusment...


	6. Meeting

optimusprimus001: Alright... So I'm posting _before_ I thought I was going to... >>;

Shiori: WHOO! I'm in this chapter!

optimusprimus001: Uhmm... yeah... that kind of explains why... (sighs) (gives shiori a LOOK)

Shiori: What? I'm just glad you updated! (starts dancing around happily)

optimus primus001: oh god... ANYWAYS... I hope you _enjoy_ this one...

Disclaimer: Hasbro and Takara owns TF. Lucas Arts owns any droids in reference to HK (not that they're mentioned in this chapter).

* * *

**6. Meeting**

_CRASH_! The blue, black and silver mech was thrown forcefully into the wall. Dust and parts of the wall scattered away from his "crash zone". _Scratch one enemy. Which one is next?_ thought the femmebot that had thrown him there.

"NO!" the second transformer, the green/white one -_With wings? Oh boy, this'll be fun...-_ leapt forward in an attempt to prevent her from inflicting more damage on any more of the group that was behind him. _Oooh, no you don't!_ Shiori thought, as she knocked him off course, sending him sprawling onto the ground with a loud "Oi! (howl) MY PAIN' JOB!... My pain' job? What sor' of time to think abou' my _PAINT _job when there's other things to worry abou'?..." _Odd thing to say, though he is right about this not being a time to worry about chipped paint,_ she thought turning to face the next one, watching him skid to a stop in the opening of the tunnel in front of the group. _What's the deal with this one? He didn't just jump out and attempt to get past like the first two did..._

The blue-gray, red, and yellow bot took a quick, sharp step forward while saying, "Hey, what in the name of the Allspark is going on...? You there! Leave my friends alone!" and with that, raced directly at her. _A _SPEED_ master! You have _GOT_ to be kidding me! What in the name of Cybertron is a speed master doing with a group of invading Decepticons! _Shiori jumped out of his path at the latest moment that she dared, trying to escape his grasp.

"Soo... that's the way you wanna play it, huh?" she heard him say, and was shocked by the faint amusement in his voice. She turned to challenge him, and drew back in suprise as she discovered the face of the transformer showed that he was about eighteen in Cybertron years, and was came up to her waist in height. Even as she examined his silver face a gentle, friendly smile appeared on his lips.

"Well, hey there! You don't suppose you'd like to talk instead of fight us all, would'ja? YOW!" His head jerked forward as an empty can, thrown by one of his 'friends', hit him in the back of the head. Furious, he spun around to face the bot who'd thrown it at him. Shiori looked at them with growing curiosity. _They're trying to get past me, and yet they aren't so concerned that they have time to argue with one another? What is _WITH_ these guys!_

"What was _that_ for, Red Alert!"

"Would the phrase "endangering the mission" be enough for you, Hot Shot?"

"_Noo_, I know you've been _dying_ to throw that at me for the past _THREE _DAYS since you got damaged!"

"Don't you know it," the red, white, and blue bot growled.

"Why I oughtta...!" Hot Shot growled, and Red Alert simply looked back at him._These guys are beyond strange,_ Shiori decided. The transformer that Shiori had tripped moments earlier was suddenly up and in between the two saying, "Com'on guys, now _really_ ain't the time for this..."

"Right..." Hot Shot eyed Red Alert uneasily. "I know he's the medic and all... but why did you guys bring _me_ of all people?"

"Surely you aren't suggesting that we should have _left_ you behind?" a strong, almost regal voice came from behind all of them, making the winged bot jump a good ten meters into the air. To Shiori's amazment, the voice came from the mech she had thrown into the wall, and he didn't look the least bit damaged or dazed. _How is that even possible! Only Optimus could act like that, and he's in Iacon City!_

"N-no, sir..." Hot Shot stammered, equally stunned by the fact that the taller mech wasn't damaged at all. The tall mech winced ever so slightly as he stretched himself, and although Shiori could not see all of his face, she got the impression that he was smiling behind that mask-plate of his._ Wait a minute..'sir'? Which side of the army is he on?_

"Just who _are_ you, anyways?" she demanded. The taller, blue/black/silver bot tilted his head slightly and asked, "Me..? I don't think that it would be wise for me to tell you my name."

"And why would that not be wise?"

"To avoid confusion."

"I'm already confused... What am I supposed to call you if you won't give me a name!"

"How should I know? You come up with something to call me."

Shiori stared at him. _'Come up with something' to call him by? What _IS_ this guy trying to hide!_ Shiori watched as he went over to the winged mech and started discussing their next move. About six or seven more transformers started to trail out of the shadowed tunnel that Hot Shot, Red Alert, and the other two bots came out of, a majority of them starting to gather vaguely around them. _What is going on here?_

"We can't jus' go back to the ship. The whole poin' of this trip woul' go to waste..."

"What other choice do we have, Jetfire? We weren't intending on having to fight groups of transformers underground. If she's down here, then there will be others further ahead- and more of them."

"But..."

"We must not do anything drastic as of right now. _Because_ we are in a different dimension, we must keep from causing disruptions throughout the timeframe," came a creaky, older voice.

"I see you finally caught up- and haven't stopped sneaking up on me..." sighed the winged mech- _Jetfire, the other bot called him Jetfire_, Shiori thought as an ancient-looking transformer stepped forward from the group and tapped Jetfire on his left wing with a "And why _not _come up behind you, Air Commander?"

"_Don't touch my wings!_" Jetfire snarled sharply. The older bot frowned at him.

"Jetfire, Vector Prime... Now isn't exactly the best time to get into a fight here. We have enough difficulties on our hands," the first transformer glanced at Jetfire before focusing on Vector Prime. "We aren't trying to do anything drastic, we're trying to-"

"Get back home. I know, Optimus"- the first mech flinched slightly and his optics flashed to Shiori's direction before focusing back on the elder bot-" But we can go through our spacebridge back to our dimens-"

"No! We must take the ship with us, Vector Prime! You can take the others back, but I'm remaining to ensure the ship returns unharmed, by _force_ or not!"

"I... Do not understand... why must we take the ship back..."

"We aren't trying to _disrupt_ time, Vector. We're trying to keep it the _same_," sighed the mech Vector Prime had called "Optimus". _How can he be Optimus? I just finished talking to Optimus and his officers over the comlink and they were in Iacon less than an hour ago! It takes longer than that to get here!_ Shiori thought, vaguely aware that Jetfire was cursing about something.

"INCOMIN'!" Jetfire shouted suddenly, before dodging off to the side. Optimus dodged the same shot from above at the same time.Jetfire practically grinned at him and said, "I'm gonna have some _fun!_" before leaping through the hole in the ceiling with a half-wild laugh while Optimus raged at him from below.

"_Jetfire!__ARGH! You better be careful up there, you air-devil!_" Optimus half shouted a large amount of high-strung curses and oaths, his silver optics flashing angrily. It took a few moments for him to quiet down, but Optimus gradually calmed down to the point where he leaned against the metal cavern-like wall. He then started watching the hole with a rather hostile look, listening to the sounds of a fierce battle raging above them. Shiori stared at him. _Well, I've never seen that side of him before. _IF_ that really is him..._ Red Alert looked at the ceiling in alarm as Hot Shot watched Optimus carefully.

Vector Prime looked at Optimus, then Red Alert and Hot Shot, then at the hole where Jetfire's clear laughter was now ringing out as the sounds of battle began to fade away. Vector Prime looked at Optimus again and said with a small frown, "Nothing _drastic_, eh?" and had to dodge a rock that the Autobot leader swept up off the ground and launched at him. Shiori stared at Optimus, shocked by the fact that he would throw anything like that at anyone. _I need to know the truth to what is happening here, and my best bet to get that is from... hmm... Who is my best bet to get the truth and straight answers?_ Shiori asked herself. To her suprise she soon found herself watching Hot Shot, who had just sighed. After Hot Shot sent a resigned glance at the ceiling, Shiori decided to try to ask him about what they were doing. As he sat down and began checking the equipment in his arms, Shoiri started towards him...

* * *

Alright. So its yet _another_ cliffhanger... You can't win'em all, ya know... 


	7. Questions

Optimusprimus001: Alright, I think you guys know the drill... Tf owned by Hasbro, HK-47 owned by Lucas arts... If you haven't reviewed yet, you need help... For that matter, So does Jetfire.

Jetfire: Hey, If I'm as sane as you are... then it means we're BOTH crazy! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!...

Optimusprimus001: ...

Jetfire: ...what? Its not a crime to laugh...

Optimusprimus001: um yeah... Hope you guys enjoy the newest chapter! (drags Jetfire down the hallway to Red Alert) Would you look at his processors please?

Red Alert: Now what did he do?

Jetfire: (panicks) I DIDN'T DO IT!

Optimusprimus001 & Red Alert: ...?

Jetfire: JUST POST THE CHAPTER ALREADY!

* * *

**7. Questions**

He could feel it. The streaks of grey energy were beginning to gather again as he watched Optimus, who was stringing out various curses at Jetfire. For all the good it was doing, seeing as the flying mech was now above the ceiling and couldn't hear him. He knew something bothering the millenia-old Autobot Leader, but he wasnt one for psychology- that was Red Alert's job. He'd much prefer to cheer everyone else up rather than baffle them with scientific theories that wouldn't help cheer anyone up. _That_ was his job- well, aside from racing, it was. Racing was his life off of the battlefield and out of the kitchen back home. But now, he decided Optimus probably needed someone to break out some jokes for a few smiles, maybe even a laugh or two. With that thought in his mind, he started to say something-

"Nothing _drastic_, eh?" came Vector Prime's query, and as Hot Shot watched, Optimus swept a rock up off the ground and launched it at Vector Prime at an amazing amount of speed and force. _Or not..._ Hot Shot sighed. _Maybe it'd be better to wait for Jetfire to come back._ Glancing in the direction the Air Commander had gone, half hoping that by some miracle the perky mech would suddenly appear right then, Hot Shot sat down on the ground. _Might as well check my equipment..._ Opening up some panels in his arms, he began running checks on some of his systems. _I really need to get Red to look at my fifth drive later,_ he decided. _It was damaged by that grip-thing a few days ago..._

His train of thought was interrupted with a soft, "Would you mind if I asked you some questions?" Turning to his left, he found that it was the femmebot that they'd been fighting with earlier. He smiled slightly and said, "Well, sure. I don't see why not. Although..." Hot Shot tilted his head slightly before continuing, "A name would be nice to call you by..."

"Shiori... It's Shiori," the femmebot told him, sitting down near him and folding her legs underneath her. "I don't really understand what you guys are _doing _down here. We're in the middle of a war. You didn't say you were Autobots, and I'm _still _not sure that you are."

"We're Autobots all right, I'll tell ya that!" he laughed, before frowning as he gave the implied question some thought. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know what we're doing here. Even Optimus hasn't told us." _What _are _we doing here? Are we supposed to change time, or is Optimus just trying to balance himself? I may never find out..._

"Okay, so let me get this straight- you're all Autobots?" Shiori asked. He could see that she was trying to rephrase her questions so that he could understand what she wanted to know.

"No, I guess not all of us are... There's only one of us that isn't an Autobot- well... (_how should I put this...?_) at least not a full one. I don't know what his story is really. Only that he was second in command of the Decepticons for several years. I guess he had enough sense in him to the point where he got tired of obeying the Decepticon leader so he left. All of us keep an eye on him since he joined us," Hot Shot paused. "He can be a good friend when he wants to be. The real question is 'how long will the friendship last?' "

"About as long as you're willing to believe it exists," Starscream's voice growled from behind him. Hot Shot leapt to his feet in suprise.

"How long have you been there!" he demanded. He got a typical sneer from the seeker.

"Long enough to know what she wants."

"Yeah? Then why you explain it to her?" Hot Shot suggested furiously. Starscream looked away and said, "She didn't ask me, she asked you."

"So what! You clearly know more than I do, why don't you talk to her anyways?" Starscream gave him a cold look. _Man! This guy is near impossible to get through to!_ Hot Shot thought. Shiori got to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

"Why don't _both of you_ talk to me?" she calmly suggested. Hot Shot looked over his shoulder at her. _Like he'd do that..._ Then, to his amazement, he watched as Starscream glanced at her before blushing and looking away. Starscream muttered something and walked away from both of them. Hot Shot watched him go, confused. _What in the world was _THAT_ about?_

"Should've known he'd walk off on me," Shiori sighed. "Works every time he wants to hide something from me..."

Hot Shot turned towards her. "You _know _him?" he asked, amazed that she would recognize him. Shiori nodded and said, " Of course I know him. He's my bondmate."

Hot Shot stared at her. _Her... bondmate? He never mentioned being bonded to anyone..._ He looked back over his shoulder at the seeker, who was standing in the center of the room, looking up at the hole Jetfire had gone through earlier with an odd look on his face. _Then again... She is an Autobot... And knowing what Megatron can be like- it's understandable as to why he wouldn't tell anyone._ He looked back at Shiori with growing respect.

"It must be hard to keep that hidden. I won't tell anyone," he promised. Shiori nodded her thanks before resuming her questioning.

"So let me get this straight- if I wanted to find anything out, I'd have to talk to Optimus, right?"

"Yeah. Although I can't garuntee you'll get a straight answer from him either..."

Shiori laughed as she started towards Optimus. "I still have a few secrets yet to be told that'll help me with that."...

* * *

Shiori: Oh goody. You told the lot of them that _I'm married_!... YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T GOING TO!

Starscream: ... Did I not get a choice in this either?

Optimusprimus001: Shut up. You can freak out in chapter 8 when shiori gets kidnapped.

Shiori & Starscream: WHAT!

Optimusprimus001: Uhm... yeah... please Review guys! I'm posting chapter 8 Saturday!


	8. Dissappearances

Optimusprimus001: Alright, I admit it. I'm in a writing FRENZY over here, and want to get you guys to _really_ talk at me. (grins)

Shoiri: What other Secrets are you planning on spilling now? (glaring at author)

Optimusprimus001: Who me? What Secrets? O.o do you have a secret that you want to share?

Shiori: NO!

Optimusprimus001: Fine, be that way. (sticks tongue out at her) For that, You're going to be kidnapped.

Shiori: ... You were already planning on that.

Optimusprimus001: I know. But now you get to see how! BWA!

* * *

**8. Dissappearances**

"So... If the information is correct, we're not far from the sentry that's guarding the tunnel to the Autobot base?"

"Yep."

"Do you think this information is right?"

"Yep."

"How do you know it's right? Did you get it yourself?"

"Yep."

"... Can you _ever_ say anything else?"

"Nope."

There was a sigh. "How you're related to Thundercracker, I have no idea..."

"He's my spark-brother. Does there need to be a reason?"

"Hey, you _can _say something besides 'yes' and 'no'!" a green, purple, and grey-black 'Con laughed.

"You want to know what else I can do?" the black and purple seeker next to him asked.

"Sure, what?"

"_This!_"

There was a loud yelp, followed by a blastershot.

"Let Shockblast go before he blows our cover, Skywarp!" a red, white, and black seeker ordered, whirling around to face his brother to find he had his sword out. The black-purple 'Con dropped the other mech.

"You're no fun, 'Screamer," he growled.

"Fun is for the battle to come."

"True enough. When do we get the clear?"

"When it comes."

Skywarp sighed, putting his sword away. _Why do the supreme commanders always send out troops long before the battle was even supposed to begin? Usually we don't even get to see battle because a dangerous threat from the Decepticon leaders would send our target cowering into submission. The only two cities so far that haven't done so were the only cities that have managed to successfully beat our sorry afterburners back to where we came from. Autobot City and Iacon City, the Twin Cities of Hope. _Skywarp was so caught up in his wondering that the faint word "Incomin'!" didn't registered. _What were "Twin Cities of Hope" when there wasn't a Twin City for the other? That's what our newest assignment is- get into Autobot City and tear it apart from the inside-out... _

It probably would have worked too... If a green and white mech hadn't flown through the hole Shockblast had made without warning, scaring the living daylights out of them all... With a wild laugh, he fired several missles into their suprised ranks.

"WHOO! Who's up fer some trouble?" the green-white mech cheered, transforming into a jet that Skywarp had never seen before. A few moments later, the planes' jets were screaming overhead as he flew over them, continuing to fire his weapons into their lines.

"What in the name of the Allspark?" Starscream, muttered as he picked himself up off the ground from where he'd thrown himself. Skywarp looked up at the transformer that was flying around above them. Thundercracker noticed Shockblast was picking himself up from several yards away.

"How did Shockblast get way over there?" Thundercracker asked.

"Your question is as good as mine, T.C."

"GET HIM!" Starscream shouted, jumping into the air and taking out his sword. "Decepticons! Our cover's been blown! ATTA-ARGH!"

Starscream cried out as the green jet turned, transformed, and landed feet-first into him, sending Starscream crashing into the wall next to the hole. Jumping away, the green seeker chuckled.

"You were sayin', 'Screamer?"

"Uhhh..." Starscream groaned, sitting up weakly. With a faint snicker, the green/white bot looked over his shoulder and ducked. He popped back up with a laugh, and watched Thundercracker crash into his brother.

"It'll take more than that, Thundercracker."

"Ow..." Was all the blue, orange, and grey seeker managed to say. Seconds later, there was a loud yelp from the green seeker. "Grrr..." He growled, turning to face Shockblast, his red optic-line flashing angrily. "It'll take more than _that,_ too," he snarled, before flinging himself at the shocked 'Con.

That was when Skywarp realized that this bot wasn't _normal_. He'd never heard of anyone who was able to survive a particle-blast from Shockblast. Skywarp let out a howl and taking out his sword, leapt at the green-white seeker in front of him. Other Decepticons surged forwards and jumped through the hole in the wall and downwards. A few moments later the single word floated up through the opening, "Decepticons!"

* * *

As soon as he realized they were under attack, Starscream snapped his blades out and set himself on the nearest Decepticon who tried to get past him.

"Not all who wear a Decepticon symbol are Decepticons..." He growled at the 'Con before slashing his blade through the mech's chest, knocking him offline. Starscream then leapt at the next one who tried to get past him. He heard Hot Shot yell the warning: "Decepticons!" and was vaguely aware of the fact that Optimus had brought out his own silver-spiked sword and was easily cutting through the Decepticons near him as well. Vector Prime had decided on some oddity to bring out both of his green-maroon swords, and was defending Sideswipe and Shiori- though he was defending Sideswipe better, seeing as Shiori kept jumping out of his protective area to fire at a Decepticon that was about to get past him.

After taking down several Decepticons around him that left the others looking nervous about facing him in battle, Starscream took a moment to survey the battle around him. He wasn't too suprised to find that Optimus had indeed taken out his sparked-sword, the _Seerevah_, though he was a little shocked to see the ferociousness in Prime's attacks. Starscream also noted that Hot Shot was literally racing circles around a group of Decepticons and Blurr was doing a smaller loop inside of Hot Shot's wide, speeding circle in the opposite direction. Smokescreen was out in his own space, using his crane to throw Decepticons into other 'Cons. First Aid and Red Alert set up a defensive line next to Vector Prime, and behind them...

Starscream nearly fell over in shock. Barely visible behind Vector Prime and the others, were three droids. One was a night-black color, and had a blue sword in its hands and glowing blue optics. The droid furthest from the black droid was white, with not one- but two- blades in its hands that were green, contradicting its glowing, purple optics. And the one in the middle- the one that shocked Starscream the most- was completely red. This droid towered over the other two, although it couldn't be taller than Optimus. As Starscream watched, it let loose a deep, sinister, static-filled battlecry.

"Assasination protocols: Activated!" And with that, the other two droids leapt forward while the red one stayed back and fired several deadly shots into nearby Decepticons with a plasma carbine, suprising the Autobots they were behind.

"HK!" Red Alert shouted, shocked.

"Acknowledgement: Greetings! Observation: Though, now is not the time to have a conversation, Red Alert. Battlecry: Termination required!" The red droid howled happily- and blasted a Decepticon that was about to tackle Red Alert. That quickly got the medic to worry about the 'Cons in front of him rather than the droids behind him, reminding Starscream that he still had a part to play in the battle as well.

"Soo... Who wants to dance?" Starscream asked, turning to the trembling bots near him again with a dangerous grin. "I hope you dance better than some other people I know..."

A few moments later, Jetfire rushed down after some seekers that were trying to get away from him, lasers flashing. Starscream faintly noted that two he recognized were Shockblast and Thundercracker...

* * *

Skywarp wasn't sure how, but the green seeker wasn't chasing him anymore. Taking a chance, he looked down at the strange battlefield below and noticed that there was only one femmebot that was in the Autobot resistance. After noticing that, he also noticed that she and the smaller bot beside her were heavily protected. _She has to be important to someone here if she's the only femme with them and that heavily guarded..._ He thought, and leapt through the hole, angling himself carefully. No one saw him until it was too late. Landing forcefully behind her, he leapt forwards with a strike, knocking her offline.

"Threat: If you know what is good for you, _meatbag_, you'll leave the Master's siblings alone," the red droids behind him growled, training his blaster on him. "Statement: You have 30 seconds... and counting."

"Since you said _'meatbag'_, I presume that you weren't talking to me!" and with that, Skywarp launched back upwards in the direction he came from with the femme in his arms, dodging a shot followed by a fierce howl from the red droid behind him. He was almost to the opening in the ceiling when someone on the Autobot side noticed him and the femmebot...

"Shiori! NO!" came a voice that sounded very familiar. Glancing down, Skywarp saw something that made his him stop completely. Standing below him stood someone he thought he recognized as Starscream, but quickly noticed that the mech was much taller than his brother- and had a different design frame. Taking a closer look, Skywarp noticed even more differences in the bot's frame from his brothers'. There were sections of frame that ran down the outside of both of the ex-'Con's arms, where a lavender blade spiked out from the ends on both sides. A strange, red, silver V-pattern was clearly visible, accented with bits of black, giving him a dangerous, threatening look.

_Maybe he's a Starscream that came from the future? Silvershadow said something about possible timetraveling bots..._ Skywarp guessed, and then realized that _this _Starscream was giving him a look that made his spark run cold. This Starscream's purple-red optics blazed up at him with the most furious, murderous glint in them that Skywarp had ever seen, even if the 'Con below him was his possible-future spark-brother. _If looks could kill, I'd be dead a million times right now_, Skywarp thought uneasily, before shooting through the hole and into the hallway above. Behind him, he could have sworn that Starscream's howl could have made the entire universe shake...

"SKYWARP!"

Realizing his guess about that bot being from the future was probably right when Starscream howled his name, Skywarp flew down the corridor above with Shiori in his arms, knowing that if he slowed down- he could very easily end up dead...


	9. Escape

Shiori: ... I hate you.

Optimusprimus001: Why?

Shiori: I don't know... Maybe because you KIDNAPPED ME!

Optimusprimus001: Hey, how did this end up being MY fault? You're the one who wanted more action!

Shiori: Not- OxO; Nevermind...

Optimusprimus001: Now what's your problem? Oh well. Hope you guys Enjoy!

**

* * *

9. Escape**

When she came back online, the first thing she noticed was that it was incredibly dark where she was. For a moment, she wondered if her optics were working, before lifting her hand so that it was in front of her face, and realized that the room didn't have any lights.

"You're awake," came a soft voice, and Shiori sat up sharply and looked around the room to find Starscream's purple optics looking into hers.

"Starscream... How did you get here?"

"I sneaked in," he said casually.

"Snuck in, huh? I have a hard time believing that."

"Alright, so I had help. I'm here now, aren't I?" Starscream growled. Shiori couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, you are."

"So lets get out then," the seeker suggested, pulling away from the wall and stepping toward her. "We haven't got much time."

Shiori suddenly felt tears start to come, and before she knew what she was doing, she flung herself into his frame. Startled, he tensed slightly, before wrapping his arms around her. After a few moments, he pulled away.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"For letting him _take_ me like that!" she cried, both angry and thankful that he'd come after her.

"Well, can you blame me later? We have a shuttle to catch..." he trailed off, sensing something odd in her. Shiori nodded. "Then lead the way, Rescue-boy," She said teasingly.

"I'll give you 'Rescue-boy'!" Starscream growled. As he pushed the feeling out of his mind, he went over to the door and entered the code for it...

_

* * *

This is not good_, Starscream decided as he watched several Decepticons march past without a clue as to the fact that they were there. _How am I supposed to get Shiori out of here without killing her- or myself- in the process? In any case, I have less than thirty standard minutes to figure out how to do that..._

"Starscream?" Shiori whispered softly.

"Don't worry, Shiori. I'll find a way."

"Starscream... How did you get _into_ that room?" Shiori asked quietly.

"That's a rather complicated thing to- that's it!" He breathed, realizing how he could distract the patrols. "When there aren't any more of them that can see you, go down that hallway and find the darkest place you can, alright?" He pointed out the right hallway before reaching into his movement system and entered a code...

Needless to say, Shiori was quite suprised when Starscream completely dissappeared without warning. _Where did he go?_ She thought in alarm, and the next thing that had her attention was his laughter in an entirely different hallway. Stunned, she cautiously looked around the corner and saw him with the Decepticon patrol, who all looked incredibly terrified.

"_Looking_ for someone?" He sneered at them, before letting out a frightening laugh.

"F-Fire!" One of them finally found their voice. _Starscream!_ Shiori thought in horror. The Decepticons fired at him- but there was absolutely no effect on him. If any, it only caused him to laugh even more as the shots went _through_ him.

"Now was that _seriously_ supposed to do anything?" He asked, and flung himself at them. Thinking that he'd just go through them, or just plain scared (Shiori wasn't sure which), they didn't move- until Starscream fired at them, and the shot exploded in front of them. Realizing that all the Decepticons had their entire attention on Starscream, Shiori turned and slipped out of her hiding spot and quietly snuck down the hallway he had pointed out. She didn't notice the silver optics of a cloaked transformer that silently watched her cross the passageway and go down the hallway, nor did she take note of the droid that stood next to him that followed her soundlessly...

* * *

"WHAT!" Skywarp howled, jumping to his feet, despite the damage he still had from a battle. 

"SIT DOWN, SKYWARP!" the medic trying to repair him shouted, trying to get the seeker to sit down on the recharge table. Skywarp just shook him off.

"What do you mean 'She escaped'! PRISONERS DON'T JUST WALK THROUGH DOORS!"

"SKYWARP, SHUT UP AND _SIT_!" Starscream roared. Startled, Skywarp did just that. Starscream glared at him before turning back to the green-black Decepticon in front of them. "You were saying?" He growled.

"Erm... The prisoner escaped... and appearently had help. There was a nearby base-patrol that ran into a "Ghost" they said that gave them a lot of trouble..."

"Ghost?"

"Well... they said they couldn't put it any other way. Personally, I've never believed in ghosts, sir."

"Then you're further along than the patrols," came a soft voice from behind the 'Con. Startled, the green and black bot turned. A green and white transformer stood behind him, calmly watching them with orange optics. Leaning against the wall behind the mech, was a bot that was wearing a cloak as black as the night, and optics were off. Starscream immediately stepped forward, looking at the green and white 'Con. "What should we do, Sixshot?"

The orange optics glittered hauntingly back at him. He answered in two words: "Catch them..."

A/N: This section was G1 Starscream, the next one is back to the first Cyb. Starscream

* * *

She was near the door to outside. One glance around the corner of the next hallway confirmed it- how often did a normal hallway have only two guards on the outside of a huge door? Definitely not often enough to be mistaken. 

"Shiori?" Starscream's soft voice whispered from behind her. She turned to face him. "Yeah, Starscream?"

"How well do you know Optimus Prime?"

"How... how well do I know him?" She nearly laughed. "He's my brother, Starscream. I know him very well."

"I thought so..." Starscream said, looking into her optics for a moment. Once again, he wondered at the odd feeling that he felt inside her. Shaking himself sharply, he looked around the corner himself. "Looks like we're almost out."

"Yeah..."

"Do you want the honors?"

"No, you've done wonderfully so far."

"Alright... it'll be less than a minute..."

Starscream didn't waste any time. The guards didn't know what hit them. Even if they did, they weren't online long enough to do anything about it. Starscream almost immediately pounced at the small box by the door before they even fell, quickly opening it and pulling out a cloak. "Shiori, come over here."

Shiori quickly ran over as he stood up and turned to face her. She stopped in suprise as he flung the cloak around her shoulders and fastened it near her neck.

"It'll help hide the fact that you're an Autobot, not to mention that almost every Decepticon in this city will be looking for you," he explained as he entered the code for the door. When it acknowledged his code, he turned and pulled her close to him. "And if you stay close to me, I can hide your spark signature. If we get separated, go to dock 6 and get on the _Klihari_... I'll meet you there if I can... Optimus will know if I can't make it."

Shiori nodded, and let him guide her down the steps and into the open courtyard outside the base. Walking carefully, he steered her toward the spaceport...

* * *

Shiori: ... (staring straight ahead) I hate you beyond the stars and back. 

Optimusprimus001: Now that really hurts... (pouts)

Starscream: Hey... What did you mean by 'Optimus will know if I _can't_ make it"?

Optimusprimus001: That's in the next chapter! You'll just have to wait! BWA!

Shiori: But I don't want to wait until Sunday for you to post again...

Optimusprimus001: Then you're lucky, Cause I'm posting chaper 10 tomorrow!

Shiori & Starscream: WHAT!

Optimusprimus001: POSTING FRENZY! (runs off to start writing Chapter 13 & 14)


	10. Revealations

Optimusprimus001: UPDATE FRENZY!

Shiori: Somebody's hyper... Am I the only one creeped out about this?

Optimusprimus001: WHOO! Unplanned creepiness!

Shiori: ... _Anywho_... >>; I Think our author is too hyper to introduce the newest chapter.

Optimusprimus001: No I'm not! HasbroandTakaraownTFandLucasArtsownsHK-47Enjoythenewestchapter!

Shiori: I'll be suprised if they understood a word you said...

Optimusprimus001: Whatever. By the way, the 2nd section is G1 Starscream and the 3rd/4th section is Cybertron Starscream. Enjoy!

**

* * *

10. Revealations**

"They aren't in the base anymore," a soft, intimidating voice said quietly. Sixshot turned to face the bot who'd spoken. "They aren't?" he asked. The cloaked transformer shook his head slowly. "_Gone_..." he whispered, and with that, he straightened, and turned to leave. "And so am I."

Sixshot froze, staring after him. _Leaving?What reason could he have to leave already?_

"Silvershadow! Wait!" He cried, running after him, all the while wondering at himself why he wanted to go with the mercenary...

* * *

"Where could they be...?" 

"You're asking me?"

"Shut UP, both of you!"

"Jeez, 'Screamer. You don't have to... hehehe... Scream..."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"Owww... What was that for?" Thundercracker whined.

"T.C., just be quiet... Before 'Screamer decides to kill you," Skywarp warned as he continued to look for the escapees.

"..." Starscream looked about ready to kill both of them then and there anyways.

"I didn' do nothin'! I's just havin' som fun..." Thundercracker protested.

"Hey! There they are!" Skywarp shouted, catching sight of the 'future' Starscream he'd seen on the battlefield a few cycles earlier. His brother frowned. "You sure, Skywarp?"

"Positive. That guy was on the battlefield where we got our afts seriously kicked."

"That makes us feel _tons_ better, Sky... Ow!" Thundercracker cried.

"JUST SHUT UP and _CATCH _him!"

Skywarp and Thundercracker nodded, and rushed forwards, with their Starscream right behind them, toward the ex-Decepticon ahead. Skywarp watched the bot tense, turn towards them, and suddenly found himself looking into those purple-red optics once again. _Fire!_ something in his head yelled at him, filling his senses. Raising his rifle, he targeted the 'future' Starscream and pulled the trigger...

"IDIOT!" the future-Starscream howled at Skywarp, and whirling around, pulled Shiori to the ground, shielding her with his own body. The resulting explosion blinded all of them, and sending the attacking trio staggering. Skywarp sheilded his optics with his hand, and barely managed to make out the figure of the mech they were chasing stand, gather the other bot into his arms, and run down the street away from them...

* * *

Reaching the docking bay with Shiori half-conscious in his arms, Starscream ran towards the _Klihari_ just as it started to launch. Suddenly filled with overwhelming emotions, he pushed off the ground, using his jets to try to get them to the shuttle, letting out a cry as he chased after it. The _Klihari_'s ascent slowed slightly in response to his call. With a sudden hope, he put on a burst of speed and reached the now open boarding ramp where Optimus and Hot Shot were. Optimus reached out towards them, and with a quick decision based off of the feeling he had earlier, Starscream pushed Shiori into her brother's arms before attempting to grasp the doorframe himself. 

"You aren't going anywhere, Starscream! Even if you ARE from the future!" Skywarp howled behind him, seizing his ankle and pulling with all of his strength. Seconds behind Skywarp, Thundercracker quickly established a similar grip on his other ankle, pulling just as hard. Starscream felt himself beginning to slip, even as Optimus turned back from placing Shiori into Hot Shot's care.

"Starscream! No!" Optimus shouted upon finding that Skywarp and Thundercracker had a grip on Starscream, and tried to catch the seeker's hand with his own. Starscream looked at Shiori. _My love, I must go... Not just for everyone here, but for our future as well,_ he thought, and with one final look at Optimus- he let go.

"NO!" Optimus cried out, and made one last desperate attempt to catch him- but it was too late. Starscream turned towards Skywarp and Thundercracker, snapping out his swords and slashed at Skywarp, cutting into the seeker's chest as all three of them fell away from the _Klihari_.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR TRYING TO _STOP _ME!" Starscream roared, spinning around to slash at Thundercracker...

_

* * *

He can't come back with us- he'll be waiting for us when we get back home_, Optimus realized as he watched Starscream as he began fighting Skywarp and Thundercracker in the sky below them. _Hopefully... _He reached out and tapped in the command to close and lock the door-ramp.

"Starscream..." Shiori whispered softly, before throwing herself into Optimus's arms again. Suprised, he was knocked backwards with his back connecting roughly with the wall. Pain seared through his mind, ripping outwards from his scar, making him gasp. Shiori didn't notice- knowing that Starscream was sacrificing himself for her safety was enough to make her cry. And so she cried, because it was all her spark would let her do. Hot Shot shrugged apologetically at Optimus before leaving the room. After the searing pain had subsided, Optimus became aware that she was crying, and gently slid his arms around her to comfort her.

It didn't take very long for him to realize that something different _inside_ Shiori. Instantly he knew what it was, and exactly _why_ Starscream had pushed her into Optimus's arms before trying to get on himself. _How could you, Starscream? How could you leave her like this? She _loves_ you... and you left her with this to remember you by? Starscream... I can't believe you would do this to her. It's no wonder she hurts so much by him leaving like this,_ he thought fiercly, and hugged his sister closer. After a moment, he gazed down at her, relaxing his grip, and tried to decide how he could tell her without causeing her additional grief.

He shouldn't have worried. Shiori looked up at him seconds later with a slightly embarrassed look and saw his undecided expression.

"What's wrong, Optimus?" she asked softly, making an attempt to dry her face.

"Shiori... Why did he do this to you? How could he just... _leave_ you like this?"

"What do you mean?" she said, pulling back slightly with a frown. He placed his hands on her shoulders before answering.

"Shiori," he began, reaching up and brushing away a stray tear from her cheek, "_you're with spark_."

He watched as her eyes went wide and filled with tears again, realizing she hadn't even known. Optimus knew immediately that the knowledge hadn't taken away the reason to live- it had given her one to _keep _living. She pushed past his arms and put her head on his chest, crying silently. Again, he slid his arms around her shoulders and hugged her gently. He mentally cursed Starscream, then thanked him for the chance the seeker had given Shiori and the child. Rocking her gently back and forth, he said quietly, "It'll be alright, Shiori. We'll always be there to support you and give you the strength to hold on, with a child or not. It's the least we can do for all of the things you've done for us. For all that you've done, we can never thank you enough."

He gently pulled away and looked down at her questioningly. Shiori nodded, and gathering her composure, she headed towards the main hold where most of the other passengers were. Optimus walked after her, through the hold, and into the bridge of the shuttle, taking his place at the control console to plot their course to the _Mrrisst_...

* * *

Shiori: ... He _left_ me? What in the universe was he THINKING! 

Optimusprimus001: Uhm... that he was saving you?

Shiori: Shut up! (breaks down crying) Why did he have to leave me like this...?

Optimusprimus001: (comforts her) It'll get better, don't get _too_ depressed... I promise to update tomorrow so you'll be happy again, Alright?...


	11. Acceptance

Optimusprimus001: Okay, so the last chapter ended on a depressing note... So this one has a few laughs in it to make everyone happy again! (smiles) And the chapter after this goes back to our mysterious mercenary and Starscream, so no worries here, Alright guys?

Shior: Just get it over with already... (sniffs)

Optimusprimus001: uhm.. yeah. What she said! (runs off as Shiori throws a chair at her) NOW what did I do?

**

* * *

11. Acceptance **

She didn't know how long they'd been on the battleship, _Mrrisst_, since they'd arrived. She barely noticed the other six Autobots as they disembarked from the _Klihari_. Shiori hadn't stopped to look around in amazement at the huge hanger of the _Mrrisst_, nor did she take note of the numerous hallways that Optimus easily guided her through to a room for her to reside in while she was on board. Even as she sank down onto the recharge bed in the room, she didn't hear the door slide open and see the black droid, ZT-48, come in and stand by the doorway. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she never saw Hot Shot come in with some spare energon in his hands and stop in front of her.

"Am I... interrupting something?" He asked finally, tilting his head slightly to one side. Shiori looked up into his light-blue optics that gazed back at her questioningly. Shiori shook her head and Hot Shot nodded back. He hesitated before sitting down next to her, offering her the spare energon in his hand.

"Are you going to isolate yourself, Shiori?"

"I don't know, Hot Shot. If I'm don't now, I might later on," She answered softly, taking the energon he'd held out and took a small bite of of it. After swallowing it, she whispered, "I miss him already."

"I'm not suprised. Optimus said he'd catch up with us sooner or later, if it helps you feel any more sociable."

"Thanks for trying, Hot Shot," she said with a weak smile.

"Don't worry about it... Hey, have you been up to the viewport yet?"

"No, not yet..."

"Well, then how about you come look now? I bet you could see _loads_ of stars that you can probably recognize. Optimus knew quite a few of them... But Optimus is Optimus, you know?" He grinned at her.

"Yeah, he is... I don't know, Hot Shot, I don't think I'm feeling well..."

"Come on! It'll help, and you'll have fun when you're with the rest of us!" he insisted, standing up and pulling her to her feet.

"Well..."

"Come on... You won't feel any better by yourself with a droid- No offense, ZT," he added, glancing at the black droid.

"Statement: None taken, Future Master," the droid replied as Shiori looked at him in wonder.

"Wait a sec.. 'Future Master'? What's that supposed to mean?" Hot Shot asked curiously. ZT-48 responded with a growl.

"Nevermind then..." Hot Shot said as he pulled away from the droid, coming up with a basic translation based off of Red Alert's usual "Go away" response when he started asking too many questions. He turned back to Shiori. "Come on, Shiori... Please? You can talk to Red Alert or First Aid if you think you're sick..."

"No, I think I'm feeling better. Thanks, Hot Shot," she said, managing a small smile, wondering at the persistance the younger bot had. He shot a wide grin back at her. "You're welcome. Now let's go up to the viewport!" he dashed out into the hallway, shouting, "I'll race you there!"

"You're on!" She called back with her first real smile since Starscream left, before transforming and racing after him. ZT-48 paused a moment before deciding that Shiori would be safe with Hot Shot, and continued to guard the room...

* * *

"Awesome! Look at that silver planet! The one with the white rings around it and the small red moon nearby? Do you know which planet that is?" 

"That's Urnsat Major, and the red planet near it is Urnsat Minor. They're ruled by the same government. They're big in Energon-mining and trading. I used to live there a few cycles back..."

"Awesome! Reminds me of Velocitron from outerspace," Hot Shot commented.

"Reminds you of where?"

"Er... Forget I mentioned it."

"Alright...?"

"Oh! Look at that, Shiori! It's a comet!... I wonder which one it is..."

"It's probably Halley's Comet. It goes between Cybertron, past the Urnsat system, and turns back in a system that's called the 'Solar System'," she said, catching sight of the blue-white comet that Hot Shot had pointed out.

"Awesome..." He said, looking interested before a look of recognition flashed across his face. "Wait a minute... the Solar System? I've been there!"

"You have?" she asked, suprised.

"Yeah! _Loads_ of times!" He smiled happily as Shiori laughed at his response. "It must be a nice place if you like it so much," she commented.

"Yeah... It's an awesome place."

"You like those two words a lot, don't you?"

"Which words?"

" 'Yeah' and 'Awesome'."

"Yeah!" he said with grin, hoping to make her laugh again.

"Are ya botherin' our newest guest already, Hot Shot?" Jetfire asked, coming into the room.

"Nah. She needed company."

"I don't know who gave you that idea, Hot Shot, but you're right- And thanks," Shiori smiled warmly at him. "I needed someone to get my mind off of what happened for awhile."

"Hey, I'm here whenever you need to talk. You can count on me!" he said with a brilliant smile of his own.

"I'll remember that," she told him, before turning to Jetfire. "Did you need me for something?"

"Nope, jus' checkin' up on ya to make sure yer alrigh'... Though it looks like Hot Shot's doin' a good job of takin' care of that," the Air Commander noted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hot Shot demanded. Jetfire and Shiori laughed.

"What does it sound like, Hot Shot?" Shiori joked.

"Now don' you go takin' that the wrong way, Kid," Jetfire teased, before being chased out of the room by a furious Hot Shot.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SAID IT, JETFIRE!" Hot Shot shouted after the jet, shaking his fist at him from the doorway. "Man!" he growled irritably, and looked back at Shiori to find her sitting on one of the chairs, laughing.

"What're you laughin' at?" He demanded, succeeding only in making her laugh even harder...

* * *

If anybody was watching the sky in the EnergonArmada dimension, they probably would have been astonished to see the huge silver-white battleship come out of warp next to the largest Autobot city, Iacon City, on Cybertron. The _Mrrisst_ cast a huge shadow underneath it, reflecting the light from the city back at it, making the ship seem as if it was glowing. It's powerful hull was the shape of a curved triangle, with sharp, thin wings that pointed slightly downwards from the bridge and back towards the engines at the back of the ship. The viewport window was behind the bridge, in the center on top of the main hull. The upper hull was accented with a small, thinner lower hull below it that lead to the hangerbay. Dotting the hull were armed turrents that were unmoving, pointed straight ahead to the nose of the ship. Underneath each of the wings of the _Mrrisst_, near the main hull, was a longer barrel for long range fire. 

It was this fierce, intimidating ship that slowly crawled towards a huge hanger, built specifically for it near the outskirts of Iacon City. As the ship settled into the anti-gravity beams that locked onto it and held it in place, a walkway from the spaceport extended out to the side of the ship, a level below the bridge. A door the size of the walkway hissed open in the hull of the _Mrrisst_, allowing access to the walkway to the spaceport. Moments later, Hot Shot, Shiori, Sideswipe, and Red Alert were stepping onto the walkway, and out into the Cybertronian air.

"Ah... Home at last," Red Alert sighed, starting down the walkway. Sideswipe cheered and ran down the walkway happily.

"Be careful, Side! You don't want to push Red off!" Hot Shot called after him.

"I know, bro!" The younger, blue-yellow bot called back before slowing to a near-stop beside Red Alert and hugged the medic. Red Alert yelped in suprise.

"When did you get there?" Red asked, looking down at the small bot. Sideswipe smiled up at him. "About five seconds ago..." he answered. Red Alert sighed, and hugged him back.

"Hehehehehehehe... Lookie who came back!" a slightly high-pitched voice giggled.

"Oh brother..." Hot Shot growled, looking around for the black-camo 'Con he now knew was hiding nearby. "You had better have stayed out of trouble while we were gone, Cyclonus!" he shouted, taking a step forward in front of Shiori. Cyclonus laughed, and jumped up from below the walkway and landed in front of him.

"Now why would I do that for _you_?" Cyclonus gave him an insane smile. "It's not like I can blow anything up since you guys took my weapon's power chips anyways."

"That's aside from the point..." Hot Shot said, glaring at the black, grey and white copter-bot in front of him. The 'Con giggled madly before dashing down the walkway.

"HEY REDDIE! Where did you guys go anywaysie?"

"... How many times have I told you NOT to call me that?"

"Uhm... Five hundred and eighty-six thousand, nine hundred and fourty-two times?"

"I'm amazed you can remember that number and _not _remember not to call me 'Reddie'."

"He has a weird thought process, Red. You know that," a different bot reminded him, walking down the walkway from the other direction. Cyclonus giggled again.

"Hiya, Demmy!"

"What? I didn't say anything wrong again, did I?" Cyclonus snickered, looking at the brown, red, and olive-green mech. Demolisher's mismatched optics stared back at him.

"I have no idea why I put up with you..." He sighed finally. Hot Shot and Shiori followed Cyclonus down the walk, listening to the conversation curiously.

"Do any of us?" Red asked sarcasticly, escaping Sideswipe's hug.

"True enough."

"Heeeeyyyy... I'm right here!" Cyclonus whined at them.

"Since when have you cared?" Demolisher asked him.

"That's true," The copter giggled before dashing around Red Alert and Demolisher, and headed down the walkway into the spaceport laughing wildly. Red Alert put his forehead in his hand and shook his head back and forth.

"Well... He always makes an interesting conversation," Hot Shot noted.

"I guess..." Shiori agreed. Seconds later a loud yelp issued from the hallway the 'Con had gone down.

"YOU _DARE_ TO RUN INTO **_ME_**, CYCLONUS!" a deep, rumbling voice roared.

"I didn't mean it, sir! AH!" came Cyclonus's response. A moment later a black-grey camo helicopter flew out of the hallway and rushed off in a different direction. Heavy footsteps rattled the walls as the mech Cyclonus ran into followed him to the walkway. Shiori noticed that Demolisher was trembling, and that the Autobots with her suddenly looked uncertian. She looked back down the walkway and gasped as she saw a huge transformer standing furiously by the opening to the spaceport.

As he started down the walkway towards them, his blue optics flashed dangerously, making his scowling face seem dark with anger. His entire frame was mostly purple and silver-grey, though bits of black and teal-green armor was visible. On his chest was the Decepticon insignia, and a black 'V' stood out on his forhead, giving him the appearance of having horns. As he got closer, Shiori also discovered something that was rather rare- the mech was taller than her. Stunned, she realized that this Decepticon was probably a fearsome warrior on the battlefield. And by the look on his face, if he didn't get some answers to his questions fast, the walkway they were on would probably turn _into _a battlefield.

"WHERE IS STARSCREAM?" he roared furiously. Shiori froze. _What does he want with Starscream?_

"Uh... well.. you see, Megatron..." Red Alert began, only to be seized by the Decepticon.

"I don't want an _explaination_, Autobot," Megatron snarled, inches from Red Alert's face. "I want to know why he _isn't here right now!_"

"Hey! Put Red down!" Hot Shot demanded, stepping towards the Decepticon. Megatron dropped the medic and turned on him.

"Then perhaps YOU will give me the answer?" Megatron sneered, starting towards him.

"Starscream decided to stay behind for awhile, Megatron," another voice said from behind Hot Shot. "And if you're going to mess around with Autobots, you might as well start with _me._"

Megatron snapped his head around to look at the Autobot behind Hot Shot. Shiori turned to look at him as well, and nearly gasped with suprise. For there, standing behind her, was Optimus, only he looked different than when she last saw him. One thing she noticed was that he was shorter than he had been on the ship, though he was still taller than her now. Looking him over, she found several other differences from either Optimus that she remembered.

Optimus stood behind them, watching Megatron calmly with his gold optics as the Decepticon glared at him. He kept his white and black weapons up against his back, behind his red wings that stretched out impressively as he quickly took in the scene before him. His red, white, blue, and gold frame twisted ever so slightly at his waist as he glanced behind him to see Jetfire and the other Autobots leave the _Mrrisst_. Swiftly turning back to face Megatron, the glass in his chest panels reflecting the light from the city, he looked the Decepticon leader in the optics.

"You're outnumbered, Megatron."

"Petty numbers never stopped me, Prime," the Decepticon rumbled angrily.

"Fair enough. What do you want?"

"What I _really _want, is what I wanted twenty-nine million years ago. But for now, I'll settle with 'Where is STARSCREAM?' !" Megatron finished with a ground-shaking roar.

"Stasrcream will come when he decides to, Megatron. You may be waiting for quite awhile- and the longer you stand in the way, the longer it will take for Starscream to return."

"Fine," Megatron growled, whirling around and storming back into the spaceport. "Don't think we've finished here, Prime. I'll be _talking_ with you about this later..."

"I'm sure," Optimus watched him go before letting out a soft sigh. "Even in a peaceful era, he still doesn't know when to quit..."

"Well, he _has_ gotten better at controling that temper of his," Red Alert pointed out, rubbing his neck painfully. "Though the occasional outburst can hurt..."

"That was close," Hot Shot sighed, still looking uneasily after Megatron.

"Who _was_ that?" Shiori asked.

"That's the Decepticon leader," Sideswipe said instantly. "You don't want to get on his bad side- like Optimus has."

"I've been on his bad side for twenty-nine million years, Side. I doubt another twenty-nine million years would change his opinion," Optimus commented. _Twenty-nine million years? Didn't Optimus say fourty-five on the Mrrisst?_ Red Alert frowned thoughtfully.

"That's very true," Sideswipe agreed. Optimus turned to Shiori.

"Now, let's find you a place to stay, shall we?" he asked with a kind smile underneath his silver battlemask. Shiori nodded.

"You're going to have to introduce me to a lot of people, I think, Optimus. I won't know who's who if you don't."

"Well," he began, "There's Demolisher here, who's usually pretty truthful and... kinder than some of the other Decepticons..."

"Please don't tell Megatron that, sir. He's hard enough on us already," Demolisher requested, blushing slightly.

"Of course," Optimus laughed, before putting his hand on Shiori's shoulder, gently pushing her towards the spaceport and walking beside her. "There's also Override and Clocker from a planet called Velocitron. Hot Shot races with them quite a bit in his free time. Then there's Snarl, from a planet that we called 'Beast Planet'. He's usually in the park in the city, he loves to play with the younger bots. And there's also some other friends I'm sure you'll recognize..."

"Optimus!" someone shouted, and he looked up to see a white and light-green femmebot running towards him.

"Elita!" he called with a laugh, stepping around Shiori and catching the other femme in a hug, lifting her from the ground and swinging her around in a circle once before setting her down.

"You guys were gone so long... We were afraid something had happened to you all," she began, before noticing Shiori. "And who would you be? You must feel horrible to be dragged back like this- and without a good welcoming party to welcome you! How dare you not tell us you were bringing back friends, Optimus!" Elita laughed, and hugged Shiori. "How about I show you around, sweetheart?"

Shiori laughed as she saw the embarrassed look on Optimus's face. "Sure. Don't be too hard on Optimus, he didn't do too bad. Blame me for not warning him to warn _you_."

"I'll forgive him, then. Now let's show you around and introduce you to some of us," Elita smiled at her, and with a wink at Optimus, began to show Shiori around the city...

* * *

Shiori: (laughing so hard she's crying) 

Optimusprimus001: (smug) I told you it would be funny.

Shiori: THAT WAS HALARIOUS! XD And poor Hot Shot doesn't know when to quit while he's ahead... And Cyclonus calling Red Alert names was funny too... And then Elita telling Optimus off at the end... (still laughing as she goes to her new room)

Hot Shot: Poor? Since when was I poor?

Red Alert: Don't I just feel -UN- loved.

Optimusprimus001: Its a figure of speech, Hot Shot. Red Alert, Get over it.

(both glare at the author)

Optimusprimus001: Uhm... What are you looking at, exactly?

Red Alert: On three?

Hot Shot: One and a half, I think...

Optimusprimus001: HOW ABOUT ZERO! (takes out a handgun and fires it at Red Alert)

Hot Shot: Holy Primus! SHE'S ARMED! RUN!

Red Alert: Now you tell me... (moans)


	12. Betrayal

Shiori: (comes into the room and to find Hot Shot and Red Alert on the floor bound in energon bonds and gagged) Uhm... Do I want to know what happened?

Hot Shot: Mmmpphhh!

Optimusprimus001: (sitting on top of Hot Shot) Nope, There's nothing to see here. Move along.

Shiori: oookayyy...?

Red Alert: Hhhmmmphh...!

Optimusprimus001: (pokes Red) Shut up, you. Enjoy the newest chapter!

**

* * *

12. Betrayal **

The Decepticon command center in the Generation Dimension had a sense of dark power within it, making the dim lights in the room seem even darker. Lights blinked faintly, flashing from computer consoles and uneasy transformer optics glancing at each other as they worked. Behind them, were four transformers and a red droid. One of the transformers was wearing a black cloak and the Decepticon that stood next to him was trying to convince him to stay for awhile longer. The green and white Decepticon seeker wasn't getting much of a response from the cloaked trasnformer. Instead, the red droid that stayed close to the cloaked mercenary was hissing back at him about how they couldn't stay long enough to let that happen.

The silvery-white bot near them had never told the mercenary his name, and the only reason he knew the mercenary's name was Silvershadow was because he'd overheard a seeker talking about him. The silver-white Decepticon ignored the green/white 'Con and the droid, watching the door calmly as he waited for it to open. A little earlier, Starscream had come in, badly damaged, and reported that they had finally captured the mech that had helped the femmebot Skywarp had caught escape. The silver-white 'Con had told him to stay and wait before going to repairs so that he could make an example of the Decepticon they'd caught.

"Yes, Megatron," Starscream had said softly to the silver Decepticon before him, so that only Megatron could hear. Now the seeker was leaning against the wall, repairing what he could with what was available within reach. And so, Megatron stood in the command center of the Decepticon base in Imperial City, enjoying the small sounds of uneasiness coming from the Decepticons working behind him as he waited for the door to open. He faintly noted the sound of the red droid snarling at Sixshot stopped when the door slid open.

Megatron thought he'd treasure the look on Sixshot's face when two droids, both looking like the red one already in the room, dragged a silghtly damaged, but most certianly offline, Decepticon into the room. Many of the other Decepticons behind him stared at the mech in confusion and shock. But nothing could have made Megatron's day better than the gasp that escaped Sixshot when Skywarp and Thundercracker limped in, still wounded from their battle with the 'Con that hung between the two droids. Stopping short in the doorway, Skywarp immediately saw that everyone was staring at them.

"You're a wreck!" Sixshot cried out, wringing his hands in alarm. Casting a look down at himself, Skywarp found he couldn't argue with him.

Deep slashes were all over his body, along with gaping holes in his arms and legs. His black-purple frame sparked all over from severed wires, and energon flowed freely from a gash in his chest, not to mention his neck. Skywarp knew his face didn't look much better, for the 'Con they'd been fighting had managed to hit his helmet with one of his blades. As a result, Skywarp had an odd visual input, with his right visual having a clear stripe fringed with his purple optic lens that had been split cleanly from the blade. Skywarp glanced at Thundercracker, who didn't look any better off than he did. His brother didn't pay him any attention as he cradled his left hand in his other arm- for he was busy glaring at the back of the offline Decepticon that had nearly killed the both of them.

"So... It would seem that he gave you some trouble, Skywarp," Megatron grinned, amused by the fact that the three seekers were severely damaged while the bot they'd fought against wasn't.

"More than, sir. He could have easily killed us had he chosen to," Thundercracker snarled angrily. Megatron's smile immediately dissappeared as he glared at him.

"I was talking to Skywarp, _seeker_," he growled.

"And he is unable to answer, _sir_," Thundercracker snapped back, still smarting from the beating the now-offline 'Con had given him. Megatron took a closer look at Skywarp.

"By the Allspark... He tore out your vocabulator..." Megatron breathed in amazment. Skywarp nodded, before signing a message to him. '_The other escaped on a shuttle. This Ex-Decepticon stopped us from following it._' Megatron nodded, before turning towards a Decepticon behind him.

"Track the shuttle, find out where it went."

"I'm afraid you won't be doing that anytime soon," a darker voice said.

"What!" Megatron shouted, whirling around, only to find himself looking straight into the barrel of a plasma carbine.

"Threat: Harm the Master, harm yourself, meatbag," the red droid growled, refusing to back away at the glare Megatron gave him. Megatron looked past him to find that the mercenary near Sixshot was watching him with an irritating calmness.

"So, this is what you had planned the whole time? Betrayal, after all, Silvershadow?" Megatron sneered at the mercenary.

"Warning: Be careful of what you say, meatbag. It might be your last," the droid snarled, pressing the barrel of the carbine into the Decepticon's chest, near his sparkbox. Megatron growled, and glared at the droid again.

"Betrayal? A rather harsh term, but if that's what you see it as... Megatron," Silvershadow laughed at Megatron's astonished look. "Suprised? Fifty-two million years, Megatron... and nine-million in war, in one dimension! Just one dimension! Can you imagine?" Silvershadow gestured at the offline Decepticon. The black droid on the 'Con's right immediately opened a panel on the bot's chest and started to tap a code into the bot's system.

"What are you doing?" Thundercracker demanded.

"Answer: Activating him," the black droid said simply. The Generation Starscream's optics went wide.

"WHAT?" Megatron roared, spinning to face the black droid. Several of the other Decepticons backed away from the scene unfolding before them, Thundercracker being one of them.

"Irritated Threat: Hold still, or I _will_ fire," the red droid behind him hissed. Megatron didn't notice, watching in horror as the bot before him activated.

"Uhhh..." the ex-Con groaned, moving his hand to his forehead. Silvershadow stepped past Megatron and the droid behind him.

"Eight years off, back home, Starscream. But late is better than never, yes?" He offered the 'Con his hand.

"Starscream?" the Generation Starscream shouted, shocked. The future Starscream took Silvershadow's hand and stood up. "Thanks. It's Silvershadow now, isn't it?"

The cloaked transformer bowed his head slightly, making it seem as if he was looking at him. "It always has been," he said softly, before turning to face the other Decepticons. "I'm afraid we can't stay, _friends_. We have a starship and a home to return to. Coming, Sixshot?"

Sixshot stared at him. So did Megatron.

"C-coming?" Sixshot stammered.

"WHAT!" Megatron roared.

"Countdown: Three..." The ash-grey droid opposite of the black droid began.

"Come with you?" Sixshot gasped, astonished that this legendary mercenary would offer such a thing to the likes of him. Silvershadow nodded slightly.

"Two..."

"YES!" Sixshot shouted. He dashed forward, jumping around Megatron's clawing hands.

"NOO!" Megatron howled furiously, restrained only by the fact that the red droid was pressing the barrel of his plasma carbine against the Decepticon leader's back, near his sparkbox.

"... One," the grey droid finished. And then chaos reigned...

* * *

Shiori:... What have they done to my Starscream!

Optimusprimus001: Well... You do want him back, right?

Starscream: Yay! I'm coming back home!

Optimusprimus001: Er... well, Not _exactly_ straight home...

Starscream: What do you mean 'not exactly straight home'?

Optimusprimus001: Uhm... I'll explain that later...

Starscream: Darn you! I want to know!

Optimusprimus001: LATER, Starscream!

Starscream: (mumbling) Fine... I'll just sit here and pout then...


	13. Battle in the Room

**13. Battle in the Room**

"NOOOO!"

"...One."

_BANG!_

"AAARGH!" Megatron cried, collapsing to the ground.

"GET SIXSHOT OUT OF HERE, HK!" Silvershadow roared as he tore his cloak off to reveal his blue, black and silver frame as he activated his silver-white optics at the same time. Reaching over his shoulder as he tore off his cloak, he pulled out his silver spark-sword and with a leap at Shockblast brought his blade up from his lower-right to his upper left, slashing through the Decepticon's chest.

"Acknowledgement: As you desire, Master."

"What're you doing? Get your hands off me!" Sixshot protested.

"SIXSHOT, GO WITH HIM!" the future Starscream shouted, snapping out his own blades and launching at Soundwave as the communications officer ejected several cassetticons.

"Ravage, Laserbeak: Opertation: Destroy enemies."

"I'll give you 'Destroy enemies', Soundwave!"

"AUGH!" Skywarp cried as he took the slash from the future-Starscream instead.

"Skywarp!" Thundercracker howled fearfully. The Starscream backed away, staring in horror. Then he shook himself and spun to face Thundercracker.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" he roared at the blue, grey, and orange seeker before jumping back at his original target. Realizing that _this _Starscream was somehow trying to _save_ Skywarp, Thundercracker leapt forwards to retrieve his brother.

"Declaration: Assassination protocols activated!" ZT-48 cheered, slashing Laserbeak in the wing as he flew past, making the cassetticon crash to the ground.

"Combat mode: Active!" the other droid shouted, leaping on the Generation Starscream, who was taking out his sword. A moment later, a blinding flash hit Ravage.

"I never did like cats much..." Silvershadow growled, kicking the damaged and offline cassetticon away. "Too many fangs, if you ask me."

"... _I'll give you FANGS_, SILVERSHADOW!" Megatron raged, finally coming out of the daze from being blasted and struggled to stand. Silvershadow deliberatly turned towards him slowly, raising his sword so that the blade was between Megatron and himself, and sent the Decepticon a glare that made chills down Megatron's frame.

"Fangs are _nothing _without _claws_, Megatron..." He growled, before throwing his sword, blade first, at him. Both Starscreams and Soundwave cringed at the piercing scream that echoed around the room a moment later...

* * *

"Statement: Hurry up, meatbag. You're risking the Master's health by slowing down." 

"Well... I'm sorry... That I'm... Sucha burden!..." Sixshot panted, trying to keep up with the droid's pace.

"Irritated commentary: Just shut up and keep moving," HK-47 growled, pulling the green and white seeker down the hallway towards the base enterance.

"Where are... we going?"

"Answer: To our ship, where else? Now move it, before the Master shows up and decides that I am inefficient."

"You're not... inefficient... You're more... efficient... than I am..."

"Smug answer: I am a droid. Of course I am more efficient."

"...Great... Remind me not to... praise you anymore."

"Proposal: How about if you keep up, I will not remind you to keep up anymore?"

"... I'm going as fast as I can," Sixshot muttered as he followed the red droid. A few moments later, they heard a faint scream.

"What was that!" Sixshot asked, whirling around.

"Theory: Perhaps it is the Master doing _his_ job. Continuation: May we continue on with _our _job?" HK suggested. This seeker was beginning to irritate his behavioral core.

"What if it was Silvershadow?"

"Irritated recollection: The Master does not have that high of a voice. Now can we move on?"

"_No one naturally has that high of a voice!_"

"Observation: Well, appearently someone does when in pain," the droid said, sounding quite happy about the entire idea. Sixshot stared at him. _This droid is nuts!_

"Query: Now may we continue?"

"I don't think I like the idea of staying with you."

"Retort: Well, I don't know how much _I_ like the idea of staying with someone who doesn't _appreciate _my skills with a blaster."

"... Can we just go to the ship now?"

"Mocking Commentary: I thought you'd _never_ ask..." HK-47 growled at him. With that said, the droid grabbed Sixshot's wrist again and started pulling him toward the exit...

* * *

"You're a... Monster..." Megatron breathed, pain flashing through his red optics at Silvershadow, as he backed away from the mercenary. Silvershadow was advancing on him slowly, his silver-white optics holding no warmth for him at all. Less than a minute had passed since Silvershadow had thrown his sword at the Decepticon, and he could already see that Megatron was barely standing. Of course, if someone had thrown a huge blade through his chest and possibly into _his_ sparkbox, he'd be suprised if he could still stand and fight either. 

"I never said that I wasn't," he said with a cold voice. Megatron's optics dimmed, and then he collapsed to his knees. With a huge leap, Silvershadow grasped the hilt of his sword and yanked it out of the Decepticon leader's chest. Stepping back, he watched as Megatron fell completely to the ground without another sound. Turning, he faced the 'Future' Starscream.

"It's time to go," he said, and with a fluid movement, he slipped his sword back over his shoulder and picked up his cloak. Starscream gave Soundwave a good kick in the stomach, pushed off of the communications officer, and flew after Silvershadow as he ran out of the room with his cloak stretching out behind him. ZT-48 and the ash-grey droid turned and followed them all the way back to another shuttle that would take them to a different _Mrrisst_...

* * *

Optimusprimus001: okay, so I got bored and decided to post chapter 13 now. Chapter 14 Is a long one though, so I kind of _have to_ wait a little longer before posting it. .. It adds to Starscream's worries... 

Starscream: By Primus! Don't you _ever_ slow down on this Update Frenzy? What do you have planned now!.?

Optimusprimus001: Trade secret, you'll have to wait along with everyone else!

Starscream: ... You like to be evil, don't you?

Optimusprimus001: Mwuhahahahahahahahahaha...!

Starscream: Primus save her spark... (sighs)


	14. Droids and Dreams

Optimusprims001: Okay! Time to get evil!

Starscream: OH GOD! SOMEONE SAVE ME!.!.!.!.!.!.!

Optimusprims001: (pounces on him) You're going to regret making fun of me earlier, Screamer!

Starscream: HELP! SHIORI!

Shiori: What is going _ON_ in here?.! (comes in)

Optimusprimus001: (now sitting on top of Starscream, somehow holding him down even though she's only 5'2" and starscream is 65 ft tall) I'm bugging people! (says cheerfully)

Shiori: ... Doesn't look like it. (takes author off of Starscream)

Optimusprimus001: NOOO! PUT ME BACK! ;-; I hate you all.

Shiori: No you don't. You love us, Don't deny it.

Optimusprimus001: (glares at her) fine, I won't.

**

* * *

14. Droids and Dreams **

"That was close," Starscream collapsed into a chair with a sigh. "I don't want to do that again, if I can manage it..."

"What about _me_? That droid is crazy!" Sixshot protested, already in a chair in the viewport of the _Mrrisst_.

"He is a _persistant_ thing, isn't he?" Starscream commented thoughtfully.

"Mocking statement: Who _wouldn't _be 'persistant', considering the situation we were in?"

"Shut up, HK..." Starscream scowled, never in the mood for being made fun of.

"Irritated Request: Then have the decency to wait until I've left the room."

"Decency? When have you ever given _me_ decency?" Sixshot snapped at him.

"Threat: If you're going to continue to jibe at me, then back it up with a blaster!"

"I'LL GIVE YOU A 'BLASTER', HK!" Starscream shouted as his patience ran out, leaping up and at the droid with an incredible speed, knocking the droid down. Starscream then ripped the plasma carbine out if its hands and stood on top of the droid as it wailed at him. "Protest: You're crushing my actuators!"

"Well, you should have thought of that before hand," he told it flatly, not particularly impressed.

"Request for Assistance: Help! Silvershadow! Someone get this seeker _off_ me!"

"What's going _on_ in here?" Silvershadow rumbled, coming into the room. Starscream got off of the red droid. "Nothing," he said swiftly, hiding the droid's blaster behind his back so Silvershadow couldn't see it.

"Justification: There is nothing going on, Master. Nothing to see. Please continue on and ignore any strange sounds-particularly ones of strangling- if you hear them," The droid added, picking itself up from the ground.

"Leave Starscream alone, HK. There's a reason he's here."

"Resigned acknowledgement: As you desire, Master," HK sighed before snatching back his plasma carbine from behind Starscream's back.

"Hey! Give that back!" Starscream demanded, whirling around to face the droid.

"Refusal: It does not belong to you, hence you should not have it."

"Neither of us trust you with that!"

"Retort: Well, I don't trust you with your swords," the droid snapped back.

"... That's aside from the point," Starscream muttered, his purple optics flickering irritably.

"Counter: Oh, but it's not. You are armed. And as such, I would prefer to remained armed as well."

"You _are_ crazy..."

"Boastful Statement: I am Evil and Crazy- and proud of it."

"HK," Silvershadow called, as he left the room. The red droid stepped around Starscram and followed the mercenary. "Statement: Coming, Master..."

"I _do_ wish you would stop calling me that."

"Statement: I cannot comply, Master. As much as I would like to."

" 'As much as you would like to?' What does that mean?"

" Answer: Well, How would you like to be the wholly-owned servant-"

"You know, this sounds _very_ familiar..." Silvershadow noted, cutting the droid off in the middle of its explaination.

"Recollection: Well, we _have _had this conversation three-hundred and sixty-four times in the past week, Master."

"Lovely," Silvershadow growled sarcastically as he walked to the bridge of the battleship. Starscream shook his head in disbelief and turned to Sixshot.

"Can you imagine having the same arguement three hundred and sixtyfour times in a week?" He asked his old commander. Sixshot shook his head. "No, nor would I want to..."

* * *

"Boastful Statement: You missed again, Master!" 

"Then try this on for size!"

"Protest: Ahh! That caused damage!"

"Well, I had to make up for _something_..."

"Remorseful commentary: You cause enough damage, Master..."

"Clearly not enough in your sorry life, NE."

"Angered Declaration: I'll GET you for that remark!"

_Shling!_ Both were facing away from one another. Silvershadow with his spark-blade before him, kneeling on the ground facing one way- the grey droid with a red, two-handed blade at its side, facing the other.

"Hmph," the mercenary said. The grey droid behind him collapsed a moment later. Standing, Silvershadow turned and put his blade over his shoulder as he looked at the droid. "Still needs upgrades..." he decided.

"Or you need a real opponent," Starscream grinned at him from across the training room. Silvershadow glanced at him.

"Shoiri would have my spark if you don't come back in one piece."

"Shiori doesn't have to know."

"She will. That connection of yours is deeper than you know. Besides, I know how to put NE-49 back together and I don't know how to put _you _back together."

"Good point," Starscream said agreeably, before leaping at AN-51 with his purple blades out. The white droid dodged him easily and slashed at Starscream's chest armor with both of its own green blades. Starscream blocked the attack with his left blade before spinning around and lashing out with his right blade. Again, the droid dodged him easily.

"Grr... Though I admit this one is good," Starscream panted, jumping away from the droid again. Silvershadow took his sword, placed the tip of it's blade on the ground in front of him, and put both of his hands on top of its hilt to watch Starscream.

"Compliment: You are also good, Stars-su," AN-51 responded, keeping its green blades in a defensive position.

"It's got an interesting way of addressing people, too," Starscream noted, before attacking again. Behind him, Silvershadow laughed.

"That one likes to call me Optim-su..." Silvershadow reasurred him, giving the white droid an odd look.

"Strange name to call you."

"Well, I can't change it now. It refuses to call me anything else," Silvershadow told him before picking his sword up and swinging around to cut through the chest armor of ZT-48. "You can't sneak up on me, ZT. You've tried that too many times."

"Statement: It was worth a try, Master."

"I wish you droids would stop calling me that!" Silvershadow snarled, driving his blade into the ground where the black droid had stood seconds earlier. ZT-48 backed away from him.

"Nervous request: May we end the training, Master?" It asked, looking rather alarmed for a droid.

"Yes... I think that's a good idea..." Silvershadow whispered, his optics widening at the deep slash that his sword made that ran a good fifteen feet away from him. ZT-48 dashed out of the room without another word. AN-51 straightened, and looked over at Silvershadow.

"Query: Stress run thirty-two?" It asked him.

"No... I need some time to myself, I think..." The mercenary sounded uncertian before pulling his blade out of the floor and started out of the room slowly. Starscream watched him go before turning back to AN-51.

"What is 'Stress run thirty-two'?" he asked.

"Answer: It is the training simulation we go through when Optim-su gets so emotional that he can only think of fighting sequences."

"Oh..." Starscream said, glancing back in the direction Silvershadow went. "Those must be hard sequences, judging by the way ZT-48 ran out."

"Musing: Yes, I suppose they are, Stars-su. HK-47 and I are the only droids that possibly remain online at the end of the run. Query: Would you like to continue training sequence?"

"I don't have anything better to do."

"Warning: Beginning battle sequence..." The droid replied, and went back to its defensive stance. Starscream flung himself back at the droid a moment later, and vaguely wondered how the droid was able to keep dodging him...

* * *

"What a day..." Starscream said as he walked into his room. Letting himself fall onto his recharge bed, he wondered what the other Autobots and Decepticons were doing. _They're probably at home in Iacon City by now, possibly sitting around at a card table, playing fours, and talking about their newest adventure,_ he thought, exhausted from the days events. _They probably aren't on the Mrrisst with a legendary mercenary and his four battledroids and a Decepticon Air Commander... Definitely not with a Decepticon Air Commander..._

Starscream let out a soft sigh, and shut off his optics. _I wonder what Shiori is doing_, he thought tiredly...

**_ "Starscream! Hurry up! We're waiting for you!" Shiori called._**

**_"I'm coming, Shiori. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you again anytime soon."_**

**_"Well then, come prove it," She said, putting her hands on his hips. "Cheryl will think that you didn't want to come, and then you'll be in trouble with her and my brother for ages."_**

**_"I said that I was coming..." He called back, quickening his pace._**

**_"Hurry _up_, Starscream. You're marriage is only supposed to happen once in your lifetime!"_**

**_"I'm coming! Wait for me!" he cried, running forward as she began to fade into the darkness..._**

"Shiori..." He whispered softly, and curled up on his side on the recharge bed, wishing he was where she was, wherever that may be...

**_"Starscream!"_**

**_"What?" He called, desperately trying to find where she was in the darkness. Why couldn't he _see _her! She sounded so close! And why did it have to be so dark? Where _was _she?_**

**_"Starscream!" She cried again, this time sounding in pain._**

**_"I'm here, Shiori! Where are you! Hold on, my love!"_**

**_"Starscream! Can you hear me? Oh.. _gods_! It hurts! STARSCREAM!"_**

**_"Shiori! Hold on! Do you hear me, love? Hold on!"_**

**_"Starscream!"_**

**_"I'm here, Shiori! I can't see you! Shiori!"_**

**_"Starscream! Oh, thank Primus! I can hear you! Starscream!"_**

**_"I'm here! I'm here!" he cried, still trying to see her. "Whatever is wrong, love?"_**

**_"Starscream... Our daughter... What do you want her to be called?"_**

**_"Our... Our daughter?"_**

**_"Starscream, have you forgotten already? Oh _Primus_!... Starscream!"_**

**_"Alexis! Name her Alexis! Shiori! Don't die on me!" he finally saw her, and immediately noticed the tears on her face, and stretched out to brush one away. "Don't die on me..." He whispered again._**

**_"I won't... Starscream... Just promise me... That you'll come home..." Was that blood on her face? Where did that come from? Why was she damaged all of a sudden?_**

**_"Yes! I promise! Shiori, hold on! SHIORI! Live, damn you, love! LIVE!" he cried as he suddenly found that she was on the ground. Why was it getting darker again? And Megatron! What was he doing there?_**

**_"I promise, Starscream... I won't die... Starscream... I'll be waiting for you..." Her voice drifted away, and Starscream faintly saw Megatron gathering Shiori into his arms with a displeased expression on his face..._**

"SHIORI!" He screamed, sitting up sharply in fear that Megatron had done something to her to make him loose her forever. His optics flashed on as he sat there, gasping for breath, and wondered if it had just been dream.

"Starscream?" Silvershadow's voice was outside the door. "Are you alright in there?"

"Y-Yes," He answered shakily. "J-just a bad dream..."

"... Alright... Do you want me to come in?"

"No, I'll be fine," he told the mercenary, still trying to catch his own breath. _Was that dream? Or was it a vision?_ he wondered. _'That connection of yours is deeper than you know...'_ Silvershadow's voice floated hauntingly through his mind. Starscream fervently hoped it _was _just a dream...

* * *

Optimusprimus001: BWAhahahahahahahah! Vision... or Dream? XD The evilness of it all! 

Starscream: ... I'm begginning to _really_ dislike you for this...

Optimusprimus001: (shrugs) I can't help that.

Starscream: Why can't you just make my life easier and let me go home!

Optimusprimus001: Because, you don't have a choice in the matter.

Starscream: ...

(Note to Shockbox: As Hk says, 'I'm Evil and Crazy, and proud of it.' :P I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter. XD)


	15. Hot Shot's Diner

Shiori: UPDATE! JUST UPDATE!

Optimusprimus001: Keep your tailgate on! Jeez...

Shiori: UPDATE!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!

Optimusprimus001: If you keep pushing I _won't_ Update!

Shiori: ... UPDATE!

Optimusprimus001: (sigh)... The only reason I'm posting this is because I want to post chapter 16 tomorrow...

Shiori: Whatever... JUST UPDATE!

* * *

**15. Hot Shot's Diner **

_Well, this looks more like the Megatron's room I remember from a few years back_, Demolisher thought as he looked around the Decepticon leader's 'throne room' that Optimus had kindly let Megatron claim as his when the Decepticon leader was in Iacon. Dents covered the walls of the room, along with several noticable spots where patched metal easily stood out. Near the wall furthest from the door, was a huge chair with the Decepticon symbol clearly engraved near the top. Sitting on the chair was Megatron, looking as annoyed as he usually did when there wasn't anyone nearby to yell at for any practical reason.

"Where's Starscream when you need someone to keep you occupied with a challenge?" the Decepticon leader sighed, still irritated about the fact that Starscream had chosen to stay behind _somewhere,_ wherever that ended up being. Demolisher edged a little further away from Megatron, not wanting to take Starscream's place as a challenge. Beside him, Cyclonus giggled to himself quietly, completely unaware of what was going on since it had nothing to do with destroying something, as usual.

"BE SILENT, CYCLONUS!" Megatron roared without warning, making the both of them jump and snap to attention.

"Yes sir!" Cyclonus said, saluting to Megatron so hard that he fell over.

"Idiot," the Decepticon leader growled at him before glaring at Demolisher. "Get him out of here. And stay out yourself."

"Yes, Megatron," Demolisher replied. Pulling Cyclonus to his feet, they both hurried out the door...

* * *

"Hehehehehehehehe..." 

"Be quiet, Cyclonus."

"Hahahahhah... hmhmhmhmhmhm..."

"..." Demolisher stepped around a small bot racing down the street.

"BWAhahahahahahahaha!"

"Cyclonus!" Demolisher said warningly.

"Sorry, Demmy. -hic-... I hate -hic- hiccups..." Cyclonus gave up trying to stop laughing. " I can't help it, Demmy..." he whined before giggling again. His friend sighed.

"I should've known you can't stop..."

"Can we go visit Shot-ie's diner?" Cyclonus asked.

"..." Demolisher gave him an odd look.

"What? Did I say something weird again?" Cyclonus snickered.

"Why can't you just call people by their real names?"

"Hmmm," Cyclonus said thoughtfully. "I don't know," he said a moment later, shrugging.

"That didn't take long for you to figure out."

"Awww, come on, Demmy! Why doya have to be so mean?"

"I'm a Decepticon," Demolisher reminded him.

"Oh yeah... hehehehehe... So can we?"

"I guess," Demolisher said slowly, not wanting to admit to that he wanted to talk to Hot Shot too. Sure Cyclonus was good for a laugh or two, but the little random bits of insane giggles got a little annoying after awhile. _Besides_, Demolisher thought, _Hot Shot makes a really mean batch of cookies_.

"YAY!" Cyclonus shouted, thrusting both of his hands into the air victoriously. "Snickerdoodles beware!" He let out an insane laugh before racing down the street.

"Figures he was thinking about the cookies," Demolisher muttered as he followed the copter.

* * *

Hot Shot's resturaunt was located on the edge of the city park, which was halfway in between the Decepticon 'base' and the Autobot Command Center. It was a realitively small, white and blue building, constantly busy with Autobots and Decepticons alike going in and out. Small bots would run in from the park with five credits and come out with a cookie, occasionally two if they were quick enough to get past Hot Shot's fast hand that quickly protected the plate that was constantly half-empty on the counter. Mother femmebots would walk past with their children, and tell them that they couldn't eat there today, all the while eyeing the door and trying to tell themselves the same thing. Most of them ended up coming in anyways. 

Being the fastest Transformer on the planet, only closely-matched by his friends, Override and Blurr, Hot Shot was the only cook in the resteraunt, constantly running between the oven, to the stove, to the register, and back to the oven again. Only a few times during the day was he able to stop and get a rest from running around the place. That was when his friends came in to talk with him, usually ordering the same, simple thing they had every time they came in so he wouldn't be very rushed about getting what they wanted, and could spend some time talking to them as well. Now was one of those slow times in the diner.

In the process of wiping down the counter, he heard them coming from a few cityblocks away. Who wouldn't recognize that insane laugh? Hot Shot stuck another tray of cookies into the oven. The only reason Cyclonus would come was if Demolisher was with him or he just wanted to get on a energon/sugar high- not that Cyclonus _needed_ help to get that. Sure enough, a few minutes later Cyclonus ran in, giggling madly like he normally did and bounded right up to the counter. Demolisher came in a moment later.

"Cookies!" Cyclonus snickered at the blue-yellow Autobot.

"Hi, Cyclonus," Hot Shot said, not suprised at all. He gestured to the spare plate of Snickerdoodle-flavored energon cookies on the counter.

"You heard me coming, didn'tcha?" Cyclonus looked dissappointed.

"Who _wouldn't_ hear you coming?" Demolisher growled, coming over as well.

"That's true," the copter giggled before snatching a cookie off the plate. Hot Shot laughed.

"One would think you wouldn't _need_ cookies, Cyclonus," he commented.

"COOKIES!" Cyclonus howled sharply, picking up the entire plate and heading to a booth in the resturaunt, chuckling to himself the whole way. Demolisher shook his head.

"I think he's addicted to your cookies, Hot Shot."

"I think he's addicted to himself, sometimes," Hot Shot replied. Demolisher couldn't help but laugh at that. "It comes close, that's for sure," he agreed.

"So, what's been happening recently?"

"Starscream," Demolisher sighed. "Megatron's still angry about the fact that he's not here."

"Starscream got delayed," Hot Shot picked up a cookie from his own plate and took a bite out of it. Swallowing it, he continued on, "His brothers didn't want him to... uh... _leave_..."

"Oh..." Demolisher picked up one of the cookies and examined it. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Nope."

"I hope it's soon. Before Megatron decides to use us as entertainment," Demolisher commented. Deciding the cookie in his hand was safe, he took a bite out of it, careful not to let any crumbs get into his fingers.

"You can always give him thirty credits and send him here," Hot Shot suggested. Demolisher snickered. "I don't think he's been here."

"Actually, he has. Starscream and Optimus dragged him in here a few months ago. Megatron's been coming every week since."

"Really?" Demolisher asked in suprise.

"Yeah. It's kind of funny... He tries to sneak in, but everyone recognizes him anyways," Hot Shot laughed. "You should see him..."

"I'd ask to go with him if I wasn't scared that he'll decide to have me for dinner instead..."

Hot Shot laughed again. "You'd just have to worry about him not eating you _before _he gets here. I'll give you a box of cookies for free to take with you to make sure he doesn't eat you on the way _back_."

Demolisher smiled at him. "Maybe I'll try that next week then. When does he usually come?""Thursdays. It's the least busiest here then, so there's less people to see him come in. He found that out on the third or fourth week."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Hot Shot."

"No prob. Enjoy those cookies... If Cyclonus hasn't eaten them all by now, that is."

"I'll drag him back home and wring his neck if he has," Demolisher said with a playful smile at Hot Shot to let the Autobot know he was kidding.

"You'd be doing the world a favor," Hot Shot told him before turning to see Optimus come in.

"Usual maple flavored donut-bar, Optimus?"

"Actually, if you aren't too busy..."

"Since when am I ever too busy for you?" Hot Shot grinned at him. "So it's not the donut today, then. What would you like instead?"

"You wouldn't happen to have a spare batch of cookies that I could take with me, would you?" Optimus asked. Behind him, Demolisher and Cyclonus stared.

"I guess we aren't the only ones who like's Hot Shot's cookies," Demolisher noted as Hot Shot turned to get a box. Cyclonus giggled madly again...

* * *

Optimsuprimus001: There... happy now? 

Shiori: YEP! (does a small dance) But I wasn't in this chapter, So now I want you to post chapter 16 now too... (sigh) I can't win them all...

Optimusprimus001: ... Its a never-ending request, isn't it? (howls to the other writers in the world) HOW CAN YOU WRITE STORIES THAT ARE 65CHAPTERS LONG?.!...

Shiori: um... patience and persistance?

Optimusprimus001: ... You aren't helping...

Shoiri: Sorry... (runs off to find Starscream)


	16. Lists

Optimusprimus001: Okay guys... I know this chapter gets a little funky at the end, but I have to start making connections _somewhere_...

Shiori: What do you mean, 'Connections'?

Optimusprimus001: Thats a special secret. But I'll explain that in a later chapter.

Shiori: (sighs) fine. This better be good, then...

**

* * *

16. Lists**

He was having a rough day. When he'd taken the _Mrrisst_ to get more supplies for the time-dimension jump to go back for Starscream, the battleship had gotten so heavily damaged that Optimus had to postpone the ship until it was repaired. Senators and ambassadors visiting from other planets and cities constantly came to him in the Autobot Command Center, while he waited for the ship to be repaired, and asked him questions that took long amounts of time to explain the answers to. And he still had to get to Megatron and tell him how Starscream had gotten captured and that as soon as the _Mrrisst_ was repaired, he would return to get the Decepticon Air Commander back- and then convince the Decepticon leader that he had to do so alone. Optimus knew that convincing Megatron about the 'alone' part would be the hardest in his list, and he was thankful that Elita had taken Shiori off of his list of things to do for the time being. It was one less thing to worry about right now.

_Might as well take Megatron off the list now,_ Optimus thought when he found a large gap in the space of questioning bots. Turning, he left the command center and started towards the Decepticon 'base'.

"Where is he going?" One of the ambassadors asked.

"Optimus Prime is a busy bot," Override spoke up from close by, "He's got more than just us to take care of."

"He doesn't own the entire planet."

"No, but Primus does. And Primus usually talks to three lucky mechs to take care of Cybertron- which, by the way, _is_ Primus. Optimus is one of those mechs, and all three of the bots have to come to an agreement on something to get anything done around here," She explained to the Ambassador.

"Oh. Yes, well... I suppose that makes sense..."

As Optimus left the command center, he decided he would walk to the Decepticon 'base'. It would take him longer, and would give him some time to think about how to go about talking Megatron into giving him more time to retrieve Starscream. He walked through the city park, watching Snarl in his beast-mode catch a ball and throw it back at one of the small Autobots playing with him with a powerful twist of his neck.

"OOOouuuuuooOOO! Catch it if you can!" Snarl howled playfully, and pounced on another ball that another bot kicked to him, sending the ball back at the kid. Nearby, Leobreaker watched in his beast-mode, unsure if he wanted to join in on the game. Then he saw Optimus walking past.

"Optimus!" the gold, black, and white lion called, and bounded towards the Autobot leader. Optimus kept walking, but slowed so the lion could catch up, and watched him come with a smile. "Hello, Leo," he answered when the lion-bot landed next to him on all fours and started trotting next to him.

"What're you doing out here, Optimus?"

"Thinking, mostly."

"About what?"

"About how to get Starscream back from where he's stuck at. And convincing Megatron to give me more time to get back to where Starscream is."

"Sounds complicated."

"It probably is, Leo," Optimus sighed, glancing down at the golden lion.

"Well, I wish you best of luck," Leobreaker told him.

"And I wish you best of luck with that game you looked interested in," Optimus laughed. Leobreaker looked back up at him. "You saw me watching, huh?"

"Who wouldn't notice you watching? You're a great, big, friendly lion, Leo."

"I don't know about 'great', Optimus. But thanks," the big cat purred, before turning back and bounding back towards the game. Optimus turned and watched him go. _There goes a big kitten looking for a ball of string,_ he thought with a smile as he turned back and continued walking. _Maybe I should go find some string for myself and tie Megatron up and make him listen to what I have to say_._ It'd keep him occupied while I talked to him. Too bad that wouldn't work..._ Optimus stopped. _String wouldn't work... But maybe some cookies would. Primus knows Megatron's fallen in love with Hot Shots'..._

Inspired by the possibility, Optimus altered his course slightly and headed towards Hot Shot's resturant not far away. Reaching it, he entered. A few minutes later, he came out with a box of cookies in his hand. _This ought to do nicely,_ he thought contentedly. After transforming, he continued back on his original course...

* * *

"I wonder what Optimus wanted with a box of cookies," Demolisher said thoughtfully as he watched the Autobot leader leave the resuraunt. Cyclonus giggled softly. 

"Maybe he wants to give them to someone, like Shockblast?" Cyclonus suggested, breaking into a fit of insane laughter at the concept. Demolisher scowled at him. "Now why would he want to do that?"

"Good question, Demmy... hehehehehe..."

"It's entirely possible that he'll eat them himself, you know."

"That many cookies by himself?" Cyclonus stared at his friend, rather boggle-eyed.

"You eat more than that in a day... And he's bigger than you."

"That's true," Cyclonus snickered. Demolisher stood up.

"Speaking of Megatron, we should probably be getting back."

"Awww... I hope he doesn't want us to stand in a nice, neat line again..."

"Cyclonus, you wouldn't know what a nice, neat line _is_. Of course he's going to make us stand in a line, we're his 'special' Decepticons."

"Oh yeah..." More insane giggles. Demolisher sighed, turning to leave. Demolisher waved at Hot Shot as he left. Cyclonus scrambled after him.

"See you guys around!" Hot Shot called after them, before putting another tray of cookies into the oven...

* * *

"So... Let me get this straight, _you_ want to go get Starscream, by yourself, in a currently damaged ship? You're _insane,_ Prime! Even Cyclonus wouldn't go by himself!" 

"Unlike Cyclonus, I have tricks up my sleeves. Besides, I'm getting the ship repaired even as we discuss this."

"You never used one of your tricks on me. If you _had _any worthwhile, that is..."

"Actually, you'd be suprised."

"_Really_... How about you try one, then?"

"You'll probably end up stuck in stasis lock for a month."

"... You don't have any tricks, Prime. You've never had a heart to come _up _with any."

"YOU WANT A _TRICK_, MEGATRON?.!" There was a sharp, tearing noise.

"_AHHRG!.!.! _GET YOUR HANDS _OFF _ME, PRIME! BLAST! I TAKE IT BACK!.!.!"

"That's better." The tearing noise stopped.

"That _hurt_, Prime! ... And since when did _you _have _claws_?.!"

"I thought you were used to pain. Primus knows you dealt out your share..."

"You didn't answer the question."

"And I'm not going to." There was a hint of a threat in his growl.

"Fine, do it your way, if you like. As long as I get him _back_."

"He'll be back, I'll promise you that much. I just can't say for sure how soon it will be."

"Whatever. You've had your fun, Prime. Now get out."

"It was nice _talking_ with you."

"I have nothing against talking over cookies..."

"What has _that_ got to do with our conversation?"

"... I'm not going to answer that."

"WE'RE BAAACK, Megatron!" Cyclonus shouted, opening the door and entering with a giggle, only to stop short to find Optimus there. Demolisher stopped right behind him and stared. Megatron had five large gashes in his chest, the three centermost of them deep enough to have energon bleeding out of them. Demolisher uneasily glanced away and noticed that Prime's right hand was covered in both of their blood, and there was an irregular shape to the Autobot's fingers... Optimus noticed Demolisher looking at his hand and quickly hid his hand out of sight, looking uneasy.

"..." Both leaders stared at them for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"GET OUT!.!.!.!" Megatron roared at all of them suddenly, knowing that Demolisher was smart enough to put together what had happened. Optimus jumped, snapping out of his suprise.

"Meep!" Cyclonus squeaked, and scrambled out of the room quickly. Demolisher hesitated, uncertian of what to do. Optimus drew himself up slightly, his gold-white optics still flickering uneasily.

"I was leaving, _anyways,_" the Autobot leader growled, and swept past Demolisher without another word. Demolisher glanced questioningly at Megatron.

"Uh, sir...?" he asked slowly, noticing the box of cookies, now closed, on the table next to the throne, as well as the fact that Megatron had crossed his arms to hide the damage on his chest.

"_OUT!_" Megatron raged furiously, sparing his right hand to throw a jagged piece of metal from the ground at Demolisher. It crashed into the wall behind Demolisher as he rushed out after Cyclonus, leaving Megatron to rage to himself in his room and onto any unsuspecting bot that chanced to wander in next...

* * *

Optimusprimus001: Okay... Now I'm scaring _myself_ with this story... >>; 

Shiori: How does THAT happen?

Optimusprimus001: No idea... (quotes vector prime) It cannot be helped. All will be explained in due time.

Shiori: Great...


	17. Greetings

Optimusprimus001: WHOO! I gave Prime claws!

Megatron: (moans) _Why_ did you have to give him more weapons?.!

Optimusprimus001: I dunno... maybe cause you bug me.. :P

Megatron: ... (putting pressure on his chest to stop the bleeding) You're begginning to get on my "Destroy as soon as can manage to get away with" list.

Optimusprimus001: Who cares?... ANYWHO! Time to make the story weirder!... and there's only one more chapter before the entire story jumps ahead 8 years... You've been warned... >:)

**

* * *

17. Greetings **

"Oh, Shiori, you'll want to meet these two, they're quite the characters," Elita smiled at her. She'd been telling the light red and blue bot about the two beast-bots that liked to play in the park.

"If this 'Leobreaker' and 'Snarl' are so playful in the park, they must have been great warriors. I would love to meet them," Shiori told her, enjoying the tour the taller green and white femme was giving her. Elita nodded, and a moment later, they were walking through the park.

"OOOouuuooOOO!" Came a howl, and a moment later, a blue and white wolf leapt out onto the sidewalk. It snarled at something that they couldn't see.

"That wasn't funny to throw a ball at my nose," the wolf growled with a strange accent, its goldish optics looking at a kid unhappily.

"Well, you were in the way."

"What?" the wolf snarled, transformed, and its tail became a blue white sword. Snarl growled down at the smaller tranformer. "I don't want to put up with mean kids, so I play with the ones that want to play. But if you want to play rough, then come _get_ me," Snarl took a step towards the bot. "Unless you want to change your mind and be nice..."

"Y-yes..." the kid stammered, looking intimidated. Snarl snorted and transformed back into his beast mode.

"Good. Now throw that ball! OOooouuuu!" He howled as the kid tossed it, and then chased after it. A gold lion jumped out and, with a twist of it's paw, sent the ball back at Snarl. With a bark, Snarl leapt into the air and caught it in his mouth. Dropping it, the wolf-bot kicked it with his front paws and chased after it, followed by a group of laughing kids. The gold lion laughed as he watched Snarl play with the smaller bots before noticing Elita and Shiori.

"Well if it isn't some lovely ladies out for a walk in the park," He purred, trotting over to them.

"Hello, Leo," Elita smiled, running her thin fingers through his gold mane-fur.

"Hey, that feels funny, Elita," he growled before transforming. His red optics looked up into hers. "And you're _still_ taller than I am," he sighed. Elita and Shiori laughed.

"I think you're as tall as you're going to get, Leo. But I want you to meet someone. Leo, this is Shiori," Elita introduced him to her, with a small gesture to Shiori.

"Hi, Shiori. It's a pleasure to meet you.. And _you're_ taller than me too? What is with me, and taller people getting along so well," the lion-bot laughed as he gave her a gentle, fanged smile, and offering his black clawed hand to shake. Shiori took it carefully, returning his smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Leobreaker."

"Leo, if you don't mind," He shuddered. "My full name gives me the chills these days because of some of the things I did a few years ago."

"Alright. It's nice to meet you, Leo," She corrected herself. He nodded, and then asked, "I suppose you'll like to meet Snarl too. I'll go take his place so he can come say hello."

Leo transformed back into his lion-mode, swung around, and bounded out to where Snarl was playing, careful not to run into any of the small bots. A moment later, pain flashed through Shiori's mind, making her pull her hand close to her. _What was that?.!_ She thought, wondering at the sudden ache inside her. Shaking her head, she looked after the lion just as he reached Snarl.

"Oouuuu!" A small, silver wolf near Snarl howled, and pounced right into Leobreaker.

"Oof! Hey!" Leo growled, falling over.

"... Are you two alright?" Snarl twisted his head and looked down at the silver wolf and the gold lion. The silver wolf nodded playfully. Leobreaker rolled over so that he was on his stomach.

"I'm fine, Snarl. Elita wants you to meet someone."

"Oh, ohkay..." Snarl said, and leapt over them both before trotting over to Elita and Shiori...

* * *

"Well, you've met most of the Autobots. Do you want to meet some of the other Decepticons now?" 

"I think I'm about as ready as I can be, Elita," Shiori told her, holding back a wince as the strange pulsing pain ran through her circuits again. _What is going on with me?_ She asked herself worriedly. "Besides," She said, trying to keep the pain out of her voice, "I've met most of the Autobots before, in one place or another."

"Alright then. But we'd better ask Megatron first, or else he might think we're up to trouble," Elita nodded, not noticing that Shiori was hiding her internal discomfort. "Let's go then. His place isn't far from here and most of the Decepticons are always nearby." Leading her towards Megatron's throne room, they got there within a few minutes. Elita opened the door and stepped inside.

"Megatron, would you mind if-!" She began, and had to dodge his fist when he spun around, still in a rage from when Demolisher had run out almost an hour earlier.

"Hey! Uncoil your springs!" She gave him a glare. "I just walked in the door, for Primus's sake."

Megatron backed away, looking alarmed as he quickly crossed his arms over his chest to hide the claw-marks that were still there. "What do you want, Elita?" He growled, his light blue optics flashed in Shiori's direction- and paused. Megatron looked at the red and blue femme behind Elita for a moment, and noticed that he felt an echo of pain roll off of her. He watched her face for a second before looking back at the green-white femmebot in front of him.

"Well?" He demanded, with a scowl.

"We wanted to ask if you would mind if I introduced Shiori to some of your officers."

"One is missing, if you'll recall," Megatron glared at her. She smiled at him.

"I know. But one officer isn't going to change things right now. Besides, I think she ran into him when he decided to trade places for awhile."

"ARGH! DON'T REMIND ME!" the Decepticon howled, angry again. He spun around and stormed to his chair, pressing his arms tightly against his chest. "It's bad enough Prime doesn't know when he can get him back!"

"... Someone's in a dark mood," Elita noted quietly. Megatron shot her a glare over his shoulder.

"_What was that?_" he growled dangerously.

"Nothing," Elita told him quickly, before turning to Shiori. "I think we'll have to postpone meeting some of the Decepticons."

"I don't mind. I've met Starscream before, too," Shiori said quietly as another lash of pain ripped through her.

"Then you have a connection to him, perhaps?" Megatron turned to face her as he felt an echo roll off of her again, and he looked Shiori over. "Come to think of it... You look familiar..."

"I was at the spaceport when the _Mrrisst_ came back..."

"No, from before that..." Megatron narrowed his optics as he remembered. "... You're Starscream's wife. _That_'s where I've seen you before... He brought you to my coronation in the Generation Dimension some twenty-nine million years ago."

Shiori looked thoughtful as she cast his name through her memory. Finding the same memory, she nodded to him. "Yes, I think I remember you now, too," She told him, and managed a pained smile. "You were quite the character... And _your_ wife... she was an interesting person to talk to."

Megatron gazed at her for a moment before turning away again. "She died a long time ago." he told her quietly. "You can take her to meet my officers, Elita." he said after a pause. Elita nodded, and they both turned to leave. Megatron turned back to watch them leave. Shiori paused as another pulse ripped through her. Megatron's optics narrowed at Shiori as he felt another echo of pain run off of her.

"Wait." Startled, they both turned. Megatron's thin optics never left the red-blue femme as he took a step forward. "You're in pain." He said, looking her directly in the optics. Surprise flashed through her face, telling him that he was right. He made a quick decision, and privately noted to himself that if this dimension allowed war, he wouldn't be chosing to do what he was about to do. "_Sit_," he growled, pointing at his chair and stepped into the hallway, leaving both femmebots staring after him.

"DEMOLISHER!" He roared down the corridor, his shout rattling the walls of the hallway...

* * *

"Hey, Cyclonus?" 

"What, Demmy?"

"Did you notice that Megatron was damaged when we were in there?"

"Yeah... hehehehe... I suppose he got into an argument with a cat or something..." Cyclonus giggled. Demolisher glanced at him before going back to staring at the wall. "I don't think so, Cyclonus..."

"... You don't?" Cyclonus sat up straighter, a deadly silence coming over the copter. "Then what do you think happened, Demolisher?" His green optics had a haunting look in them, and he didn't laugh after his comment. Demolisher edged away from him slightly, not used to this side of Cyclonus. "I saw Optimus's hand..." he started, pausing as he remembered the energon blood dripping from the Autobot's _seemingly_ clawed fingers and how uneasy Prime had looked when he'd noticed Demolisher looking at his hand. "Cyclonus? Would you believe me if I said that Optimus's hands were ... _clawed_?" He asked the copter. His friend's green optics looked into his for a moment and then...

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT IS THE MOST... HAHAHAhahaha... the most _INSANE_ idea... hehehehe... idea I've ever HEARD!" The insane copter fell over laughing madly. "HAHAHAHAHAHA... Rich, Demmy! That was just _rich_!"

"_Shut up, _Cyclonus," Demolisher snarled angrily. Figures that the copter wouldn't take it seriously. Who would belive that the kind-hearted, and gentle Optimus Prime had clawed hands and had attacking Megatron? Well... the attacking Megatron, maybe... But seriously... _Clawed hands_? Demolisher sighed, and returned his gaze thoughtfully to the blank wall in front of him. Maybe he _was _losing his insanity by hanging around Cyclonus...

"DEMOLISHER!.!.!.!" Megatron's distant roar was demanding and urgent. Demolisher sighed and stood up. He was beginning to wish he was still at Hot Shot's place as he hurried down the hallway...

* * *

Optimusprimus001: OH GOD! What's happening to Shiori? Does anyone know? Who ever figures it out first gets the grand prize of... A BONUS CHAPTER! XD as soon as I get the email that gets it right before I explain it in the next chapter will get chapters 18 AND 19 posted... I'm so evil... 

Megatron: ... clearly, If you're giving _ME_ a soft spot...

Optimusprimus001: (innocent look)...


	18. Hidden Emotions

**18. Hidden Emotions **

"... What is _taking_ him so long? DEMOLISHER!" Megatron roared again. _Slag it all! Even I can move faster wounded than he can fully repaired!_ "DEMOLISHER!.!.!.!.!.!"

"I'm hurrying, Megatron," The olive-green and red 'Con ran around the corner and nearly into him. Twisting to avoid hitting the Decepticon leader, Demolisher tripped and landed sprawled out in front of him instead.

"..." Megatron glared down at him irritably. "Stand up. Go get Red Alert and bring him here," Megatron ordered, turning back to go into his room. "And be quick about it, or I'll rip your throat out when you get back."

"Yes, Megatron," Demolisher said, wondering why Megatron wanted _Red Alert_ of all of the doctors/medics he could have asked for.

"Nice, Megatron," Elita said from the doorway behind him. "But explain to me... why do you care about what happens to Shiori?" She frowned at him. Demolisher paused. _Care about Shiori? Since when has Megatron cared about anyone? What's wrong with Shiori if Megatron's sending for Red Alert for her? Who _is_ Shiori?_ Demolisher wondered. Megatron noticed he was still there.

"GO DEMOLISHER! _SHOCKBLAST _MOVES FASTER THAN YOU!" He roared at him. Demolisher transformed and raced away. _I am not slower than Shockblast!_ he thought fiercly. _I'll get Red Alert faster than Hot Shot can!_ He knew that was highly unlikely, but he pretended anyways, and imagined that he was winning the race. _Winner would get free cookies for a week,_ he told himself proudly when he was halfway there, and then reflected on the fact that _he'd_ end up being the ones making and giving the cookies if the race was real... A few minutes later, he found himself outside the hospital where Red Alert worked...

* * *

"... What?" Megatron growled irritably as he stalked back in. Elita came in after him, looking astonished and confused. 

"I can't believe you told him that..."

"If it gets him motivated, so be it."

"Why are _you_ concerned about what happens to her, anyways?"

"Hmm..." Megatron paused for a moment.

"Well?"

"I dont know," he said finally with a growl. "Quit bothering me..."

"Alright... And _why _are you hiding your chest like that?"

"Like what?.!" His voice took on a more alarmed note, and he gave her a worried look as he drew out of reach. She frowned, and crossed her ams.

"Like _that_."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," He snarled, and quickly started considering and rejecting ideas on how to get out of the situation he was in. He had the option of telling her what had happened with Prime, but decided that he would rather not explain what the Autobot leader had come to discuss- much less how the Prime had gotten him to listen to him. Elita examined his face carefully.

"You're hiding something."

"So what if I am?" He snapped back, half-hoping that Demolisher and Red Alert would come in right then and rescue him from this crude interrogation.

"Would you two... stop it?" Shiori gasped painfully at them, not wanting the arguement to go any further. Elita quickly rushed over to her.

"Is there _anything_ we can do to help you?" She asked her, looking rather distressed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?.!"

"Because it only started a little while ago..." Shiori sucked in her breath as another pain shot through her body. "By the Allspark!" she hissed. "Where's Starscream when you need him?"

Megatron sighed, and sent her a sympethetic look. "Indeed..." He agreed, before turning and started to pace about restlessly in the middle of the room...

* * *

"Say what?.!" Red Alert shouted, jumping up from his desk. Demolisher shrugged. 

"I didn't hear much, he sent me to get you before their conversation got very far..." Demolisher hesitated. "He's damaged himself, so I first thought he just wanted you to come repair him..."

"By Primus!" Red Alert cried, and rushed out of the room with First Aid hot on his heels. "You'd think Optimus could have given us a _warning_ that this might happen! I should have realized a time-jump would have affected her sparking-time..." Red Alert groaned as he transformed and tore down the street with his lights flashing. "Optimus and Starscream are going to _kill_ me if she dies..."

"Red! Oh brother... It's a good thing he's equipped with tools," First Aid muttered, grabbing a medical kit before transforming and racing after Red Alert. Demolisher transformed behind him and rumbled after them, not bothering to keep up because he knew he wouldn't be able to.

"Car-transforming mechs... They're lucky, the lot of 'em..." Demolisher growled. _Being a tank definitely has its drawbacks... I wonder who that was..._, he thought irritably as a red and blue fire-truck sped past, following Red Alert's sirens with its own blue flashing lights. _Even wide-load trucks can go faster than me_, Demolisher thought jealously ...

* * *

Optimusprimus001: XD Demolisher's got Car-Jealousy! 

Demolisher: Shut up. They're lucky, the lot of them! (whining) They can do sharp, quick turns... drive really fast...

Optimusprimus001: ... And have bright paint jobs that makes it easy to spot them and shoot at.

Demolisher: O.o; Hadn't thought of that...

Optimusprimus001: And how many of them are armed with 14 guns?

Demolisher: uhm...

Optimusprimus001: Exactly! XD Being a tank has _its _advantages too...


	19. Chaos Herald

Optimusprimus001: WHOO! CLIFFHANGERS ARE _FUN_!

Shiori: I hate you.

Optimusprimus001: ... why?

Shiori: How about because... YOU'RE EVIL AND CRAZY, LEAVING CLIFFHANGERS ON THE END OF THE PAST 5 CHAPTERS!

Optimusprimus001: O.o I've left clifhangers on the past 5 chapters?

Shiori: YES! AND ITS EVIL!

Optimusprimus001: XD... I'm Evil and crazy- And proud of it. :P

Shiori: ...

**

* * *

19. Chaos Herald **

Someone was in pain. He could feel the beating pulse of it as it echoed out to him. Sitting in the shadowed corner of a dark room, he activated his optics. For him, he could see every crack in the wall, every dent in the floor, and every hole in the ceiling of the room from the huge battle that had taken place in there six decades before. If anyone else had been there, his pink optics would have been the sign of an old, dangerous traitor.

_Time to wake and start the cycle of chaos anew,_ he thought as he gathered his black, staticy form together before jumping into the wall and seeping through the cracks like liquid...

* * *

"Thank you, Red Alert," Shiori whispered softly to the medic as he placed a small basic-frame bot into her arms. He gave her a comforting smile.

"It's all in a day's work, Shiori. Now why don't you go show that sweet thing to our nervous friends in the other room?" He suggested with a small chuckle. Shiori stood up slowly, and started towards the door with Elita, who'd refuesed to leave the room earlier. It didn't take them long to get to the room where Megatron and First Aid were by following the Decepticon's swearing voice and the medic's shouts of "SIT DOWN SO I CAN REPAIR YOU!", making the trip rather amusing as they listened to their argument. Occasionally, Optimus Prime's voice floated in and out of the arguement.

"BLAST IT! IT HURTS!" Megatron roared at the smaller medic as the femmebots walked into the room. First Aid sighed.

"If you had come in to get repaired before now, it wouldn't hurt so much."

"I"LL COME IN TO BE REPAIRED WHEN I CHOOSE TO!"

"Sit down, Megatron..." Optimus sighed, standing as he saw his wife and his sister come into the room. The Decepticon let out a growl, and stubbornly remained standing.

"_You're_ the cause of my wound in the first place!" Megatron snapped.

"AND I'LL BE THE CAUSE OF MORE IF YOU DON'T _SIT DOWN _AND LET HIM _FIX _YOU!" Optimus thundered, becoming the cause of Megatron falling over in surprise. Everyone stared at the Autobot leader as he rumbled irritably to himself before getting his temper back under control.

"What are you staring at?" He growled at one of them.

"Uhm..." was all First Aid could think of to say. Shiori stepped forwards slightly. "The fact that you just shouted the Decepticon leader to the _ground _might have _something_ to do with it, Optimus," She pointed out, still tired from her ordeal. First Aid noticed that Megatron was still on the ground and took the opportunity to start repairing him, ignoring the glare the 'Con shot at him. Optimus muttered something to himself and turned away, looking slightly uneasy. Elita stepped over to him and put her arms around his waist in a hug. He glanced down at her before returning it. Megatron sighed defeatedly, and looked up at Shiori.

"..." He couldn't think of anything to say to her, even though he wanted to. Irritated at himself, he shut off his optics to think to himself for a moment.

"Megatron?" Shiori inquired. Megatron activated his optics again and looked at her.

"What?"

"Why... Why were you so concerned about me?" she asked him.

"..." Megatron's face flushed with embarrasment. "Who said I was?" He growled, trying to hide his embarrasment. Shiori chuckled weakly. "You aren't hiding things very well today, are you?"

"... You remind me of _her,_" he said finally after a pause, avoiding looking into anyone's optics. Shiori examined his face.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Who wouldn't miss her?" Megatron sighed. "My beautiful Blazestorm... Lost forever."

"Even the lost can return here, Megatron," Optimus said softly, looking over at the Decepticon leader. "I know from experience..."

_

* * *

Hmmm_, the shade thought quietly as he listened to the conversation below. _Megatron? Concerned about anyone? This _IS_ interesting information..._

"You miss her, don't you?" The red and blue femme below him asked the 'Con.

"Who wouldn't miss her?... My beautiful Blazestorm... Lost forever."

"Even the lost can return here, Megatron. I know from experience."

"I'm sure, Prime..."

"Ohhh yesssss... We all return..." The shade said into the room, and everyone below froze. Megatron's optics narrowed, along with Optimus's.

"I know that voice..." Megatron said slowly, looking around.

"As you well should!" the shade shouted, and leapt down into the center of the room. "The Allspark knows you've killed me before!... But not completely _enough_..."

"SIDEWAYS!" Megatron roared, leaping to his feet furiously. The shade cackled as it turned to face the Decepticon leader. "Yes, Sideways... And you thought you'd gotten rid of me, didn't you? HA! I wonder what'll happen if I take the life of the defenseless here n-ARGH!"

"_You're the undefended as of this moment, Sideways..._" Optimus growled darkly as his now-clawed hands ripped into Sideway's back and threw him into a wall. His optics flashed a hot-white and silver, and he turned to face the purple and yellow bot. Sideways growled back at him.

"Do you think Unicron would re-activate me without some upgrades, Optimus Prime?" Sideways pulled out a black sword, and held it in front of him. "It's time for your end..."

"MY end?" Optimus snarled, stretching himself out and tapping into his spark box...

Shiori gasped in amazment. Megatron backed away in fear as he watched. Elita drew away from him and Sideways, her optics widening as Optimus stretched himself out completely...

* * *

Optimusprimus001: WHOO! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! 

Shiori: ... You told me you weren't going to do one this time!

Optimusprimus001: Well, chapter 19 would be too long if I finished it here...

Shiori: ARGH! YOU BETTER UPDATE SOON! IM TIRED OF YOUR EVIL CLIFFHANGERS, SUBI!

Optimusprimus001 (Subi): WHOO! CLIFFHANGER! I'M EVIL! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Shiori: ... We already knew that... BUT UPDATE SOON!

Subi: I'll Update when I want to... >:P

Shiori: ...


	20. Double Sparks

Subi: I'm getting very off-course here, but my chapters will get too long (in my opinion) unless I split this up into this chapter and the next one... So in order to explain what happened at the end of the previous chapter, I have to do something very, very odd...One thing would be to go _back_ to a time before the story... and the other would be to- (now, don't anyone freak out...)- go _inside_ Optimus' mind/spark...

Optimus Prime: **_WHAT?_.**

Subi: YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO FREAK OUT! v.v;

Optimus Prime: BUT IT'S _**MY** _MIND!

Subi: Appearently not anymore... XD

Optimus Prime: I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!...(snaps up his particle rail-guns)

Subi: OH GOD! RUN PEOPLE! HE'S HEAVILY ARMED!... (runs from him as fast as she can and squeezes into a small crack in the wall where he can't get her) HA! NOW YOU CAN'T GET ME!.!

Optimus Prime: GET BACK HERE AND POST THE STORY ALREADY, SUBI!

Subi: O.o; (thinking: He actually _wants _me to post this?)

Optimus Prime: SUBITAYO TAKORU!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!

Subi: O.O! Meep! (runs to post the story)

**

* * *

20. Double Sparks **

There's something about sparks that remain a mystery to many Transformers. Something about how the sheer energy in it can not only keep them functioning, but give them a personality as well. Of course, such a small, mysterious part of them can have its problems as well. Split-sparks have always been rare, and even rarer were tri-sparks. Optimus considered himself as an interesting bot, not simply because he was the only Autobot leader to survive the last 29 million years as Optimus Prime. Oh no, there was more to him than that- _much_ more. Because Optimus Prime had a secret... A secret no one else knew _completely_ about. Sure, Jetfire knew that he had a balance problem, but the seeker didn't have a full concept. No else one did, and at times, Optimus himself wondered if _he _understood.

Optimus had a rare, if questionable, creation origin. Half of him was from another planet called Urnsat Major. He spent eleven years in his first life as a miner before he, Orion Pax, was forced to flee to Cybertron on false charges of stealing. Only to be nearly-murdered by his future-rival, Megatron, in Atlantis City seven years later. With a new body built for him, Orion's spark was placed in with a small creational error- Primus himself placed a _different _spark inside the new body before Orion was. Forced to contend with another, more powerful spark, Orion finally came to an agreement with it: together, while off of the battlefield, they would jointly-decide and act under the name "Optronix". On the battlefield, they would pull more on the other spark's power to defeat the Decepticons under the name "Optimus Prime", which after a few years would become their full-time name throughout all of the dimensions. It worked out pretty well- until they got thrown into a dimension where there was no battlefield. Then Orion ran into problems with the other spark...

_Silvershadow_. His "split-spark" brother. His own enemy in a peaceful life. Possibly een his own second death, waiting to happen. When Silvershadow was in full control, he had claws, Blue/black/silver armor made of a different alloy than any other tranformer, Autobot or Decepticon, and a spark that was so hot, that it was cold- so bright, that it blinded one into darkness. And most importantly, a personalitly program that left little discussion and much more action, with no regard to any true cause other than to protect Primus and Cybertron. Silvershadow's spark couldn't leave his frame, and he had to be the only spark in a frame in order to be able to tap into his _full_ power. And so, Orion would tear himself out of the frame every now and then to stay with their family while Silvershadow left to a different dimension to balance his time and sort through what Primus wanted him to do...

* * *

Sideways backed away from Optimus- or rather, who he _thought_ was the Autobot leader. In actuality, it wasn't Optimus who was stretching himself- It was Silvershadow who stood before him, taking out a spiked spark-sword that was a silver-white color. 

"My end...? We'll see..." Silvershadow breathed, and with that, leapt at Sideways, sweeping his sword out before him. Sideways barely managed to block it in time.

"Grrrr..." Sideways growled, trying to push the taller mech back without success. In fact, it seemed the more he tried, the more he went the _other_ way.With another growl, he jumped to the side, only to get hit by Silvershadow's claws. "AUGH!" Sideways staggered away, energon pouring out of the deep gashes in his back. Silvershadow turned towards him, shifting his grip on the sword in his hands.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Sideways howled, suddenly furious as he realized he couldn't beat the blue, black, and silver mech. Whirling around, he leapt at Shiori and the small bot in her arms.

"NO! SHIORI, MOVE!" Silvershadow shouted. But before either of them could make a move, Megatron was there, his right hand out in front of him, with a scowl on his face.

"Do you dare to try _me_?" He snarled, activating the negative power-genterator in his hand. A moment later, an arc of lightning flashed out, hitting Sideways head-on, forcing the shade-bot to the ground, gasping in pain. A faint smirk appeared on Megatron's face. " I guess you aren't as good as you _claimed _you were..."

"Not everything is what is normally seen..." Sideways whispered, changing from a solid form to a liquidy, static-like blob of wires. "Let's see you try to stop me _now_, Megatron..." he snickered evily before gathering himself back for another leap at Shiori- "_ARGH_!"- and got slashed in the back with Silvershadow's sword. With a hiss, and several sparking wires, Sideways flung himself at Megatron instead. Megatron activated his own claws and swung his arm forward at the shade. Sideways shot off to the side and seemingly dissappeared.

"What!" Megatron exclaimed, looking around quickly for the shadow-bot. "Where did he go?"

"SHIORI!" Silvershadow yellled, and Megatron swung around in time to see Sideways cut through her side as she leapt away from him, but not before some serious damage was done. Shiori felt something inside her spark pulse suddenly. _Now what was that? _She wondered to herself. Sideways swiped at her again, and Shiori dodged him before making the decision to run. _I need to find a better, safer place to defend myself and my daughter..._ She raced down the hallway, using her memory to find her way back to the park. Behind her, she heard the howls of the shade-bot, Megatron's fierce shouts, and Silvershadow's occasional roaring voice. After a few minutes, a resounding crash echoed down the hallway, followed by Sideways' evil, victorious laughter as he somehow bounded down the hallway in his liquid-static form after her...

_

* * *

What a time to be defenseless..._ Shiori thought to herself as she desperately ran with her sparkling in her arms. _Much less to be chased by an insane... something... that appearently is intent on killing me and my daughter..._

"YOU CAN'T RUN AND HIDE FOREVER, WOMAN! FACE YOUR DESTINY WITH THE ALLSPARK!" Sideways shouted, jumping up and against the wall and then down at her, barely missing her.

"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER!" Shiori roared, and flung her arm out at him to push him away- only a flash of a bright blue light shot out of her hands instead, sending the shadebot crashing into the wall with a pained yelp.

"AHG! MY OPTICS!" He howled, stumbling forwards. Shiori bolted with her daugther in her arms. _Now how did I do that?_ she wondered as she reached the park. _That was just too odd..._

"Hey, I know you. You're Shiori," came a friendly growl. Startled, she stopped and looked down into Leo's red optics looking up at her curiously. "What're you running from?" He asked.

"Thats a little complicated to explain right now-"

"I"LL GET YOU FOR THAT, SPARK-SWORD HOLDER!"

"What the-?" Shiori began, turning around to face the shade-bot. Sure enough, he was standing furiously in the alleyway opening that she'd run out of. She was slightly suprised to see his right optic-lens was cracked. Leobreaker took a step forward.

"Who're you?"

"I'M HER END, AND IF YOU GET IN THE WAY, I'LL BE YOURS AS WELL!... ARGH!" He stumbled forwards as Silvershadow bowled over him. Both tumbling into the street from the force of the mercenary's attack. Sideways hissed and got up first, drawing himself up in a fountain of black, sparking wires. "How dare you... How _dare_ you get in the way..." he hissed, solidifying himself into a mech and pulling his sword out. A moment later, _he_ got electrified.

"AHHHHHUGH!"

"You _DARE_ to run from _**ME, **_Sideways!" Megatron thundered from the blackness of the alley, his blue optics flashing in the darkened space, revealing where he was. "I thought you were smarter than that..." He sniffed, pretending to have his feelings hurt. "Primus knows you were eighty years ago..."

"YOU MISSED YOUR CHANCE TO KILL ME COMPLETELY EIGHTY YEARS AGO!" Sideways shouted, leaping into the darkness. There was a sharp yelp, and Megatron skidded out into the open on his back. The Decepticon sat up with a growl.

"He _dares_ to throw me? Why that little..."

"I DARE A LOT, MEGATRON!" And the shade-bot leapt out into the open again. Leobreaker looked around at them all.

"What is going _on_ here?" the lion asked, confused.

"AND MY PRIZE IS UNGUARDED! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sideways leapt past Megatron and Silvershadow toward Shiori once again. She jumped to avoid him, and Leobreaker leapt the other way, transforming as he went. In a split-second decision, Shiori pressed her sparkling into his arms.

"Make sure he doesn't get her, Leo. _Promise me she'll be safe!_"

"Huh... what... Yes, I promise- Shiori! Where are you going!" He stuttered as she turned to face Sideways.

"You want me to fight you, Sideways, then so be it. Come get me!" She challenged, moving away from Leo and her daughter to ensure they'd be safe. Sideways snarled and jumped at her, his sword first, aimed at her sparkbox. But before the blade came near her, a dark-blue light flashed out of her chest, throwing him backwards. Shiori gently reached out and grasped the hilt that had formed in the light, and the rest of the dark-blue energy shaped itself into a sword that had spikes that curved back toward the hilt, giving it a sharp, curved blade on both sides.

"You want a prize, Sideways? You just got one..."

* * *

Subi: Well... that worked out better than I thought it would... 

Shiori: O.o what did you just give me...? A sword?.?.? WHOO! I'm not defenseless anymore!

Subi: Imagine that... >.>;

Shiori: I'm happy... (starts humming a strange song)

Subi: Er... Right... Anyways... I hope you guys liked!


	21. The Second Blade of Primus

Subi: Oh goody... It was another Cliffhanger... But on the bright side... this one is too? (runs and hides) Don't kill me! At least I'm winding down somewhat... And I posted...

Shiori: (growling and looking threatening) And thats the _only_ reason- besides the fact that Optimus ordered me not to kill you- That you're alive right now!

Subi: HELP! OPTIMUS SHE'S PLANNING THINGS!

Optimus Prime: I do _not_ want to know...

Shiori: Sorry, you're involved.

Optimus Prime: Lovely... (puts his face in his hand) Then tell me later.

Shiori: But I dont want to. I want to tell you _now_... (has an odd look on her face)

Optimus Prime: BY PRIMUS! HELP US ALL! (rushes out of the room)

Shiori: GET BACK HERE, OPTIMUS!... (chases him)

**

* * *

21. The Second Blade of Primus **

Shiori gently reached out and grasped the hilt that had formed in the light, and the rest of the dark-blue energy shaped itself into a sword that had spikes that curved back toward the hilt, giving it a sharp, curved blade on both sides.

"You want a prize, Sideways? You just got one," She growled, shifting into a defensive stance.

"ARRRRGGGHHH!" He howled, before launching at her, swiping his blade up in an attack. Shiori jumped, twisting to avoid his black blade. She brought her own blue blade down into his back; the curved spikes in her blade caught on something in his liquid-like shape. Sideways screamed. Startled, Shiori pulled her blade the other way and leapt away from him. As red sparks danced around him, Shiori could see a strange red-purple glow inside him before his back healed itself. Hissing and snarling at them, he gathered and threw himself past Megatron and barely dodged Silvershadow's silver-blade as it swung down at him.

"YOU'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN, MEGATRON!" Sideways yelled, racing for the dark alleyway. Megatron paused. _Never see **who** again? What in the universe is he talking about?_ The Decepticon leader wondered breifly. He jumped as Silvershadow let out a ground-shaking roar, flinging his blade with one hand at the retreating shady bot. The sword crackled, and several of its spikes split from the blade and shot outward. Most of them- and the main part of the blade- missed him, but one particularly long spike _did_ hit the running mech...

"AAAAUUHHHG!" Sideways crashed into something in the alley, and there was a loud clattering noise. After a moment, Megatron made out the black shape of a bot struggle to its feet and run deeper into the alley, with a sharp, silver spike protruding out of its back. Megatron hesitated, noticing Silvershadow hadn't made a move to follow Sideways.

"Silvershadow?" He growled questioningly. The mercenary shook his head.

"There's more to my blade than one would truely expect a sword to be able to do," The blue, black, and silver bot said, walking calmly to where his blade had split into 11 pieces, with ten of them scattered around with their points firmly embedded into the ground and walls. Silvershadow gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and a brilliant white light suddenly surrounded the shards of the blade. With a bright flash, they all shot out at the blade in Silvershadow's hand, and the light faded, revealing that the blade was in one piece- save for one spike, one of the second spikes from the tip of the sword. Silvershadow glanced at the blade before turning back to face Megatron, Shiori, and Leo, who still had Shiori's sparkling in his arms.

"It shouldnt take long to track him down. Shiori, _stay where you know you'll be safe._ Coming, Megatron?" The mercenary turned, and started to walk down the alley with his sword now pressed against his back. Megatron glanced back at Shiori and Leobreaker before dashing after Silvershadow.

"You couldnt leave me behind if you tried, Prime/Silvershadow. Besides, I want to know what he ment by 'you'll never see her again'..."

"Thought so..."

Shiori and Leo watched them fade into the darkness. Leobreaker turned towards Shiori.

"What was _that_ all about?"

"That's a very good question, Leo... A very good question that I don't know the answer to, I'm afraid," She sighed, and after a pause, realized that the blade in her hands had shifted slightly to be able to hold itself near her waist comfterably. _I'm going to have to talk to Optimus about this sword later, seeing as he seems to have one too,_ Shiori thought as she 'put away' her sword. She turned to face the lion-bot, who held out her sparkling to her. "Thanks, Leo. I am indebt to you for watching over her," She told him, taking the sparkling.

"Huh? What... No, it was nothing... You don't owe me anything... **_I_** owe more than this to many sparks and bots for what I've done," He protested. "It's only a small step to repayment for my own actions..."

"Alright. But at least take my thanks."

"I think I will... and you're welcome..."

* * *

He didn't stop running as he dashed out of the dark alley and turned into a more run-down side of the city. He didn't pause to look back behind him to see if they were chasing him down the street. He didn't even hesitate as he rushed into a dark room a few moments later. Only when he was in the deepest, darkest part of the room did he finally come to a halt. 

"NOIZEMAZE!" Sideways roared, his light-pink optics scanning the darkness for the glowing orange optic-visor he knew should be there.

"Gee, one would think that you've gotten into trouble somewhere, brother," Noizemaze's crafy voice came from his right. Turning, Sideways saw the orange-black bot leaning against one of the beams that supported the ceiling watching him.

"Nevermind that, just take this silver shard out of my back," Sideways growled irritably. Noizemaze muttered something before straightening and going over to him.

"Do you suppose you could _not_ go after the top-dogs 'round here? Thanks to you, They probably know that Unicron is begginning to- YOW!" Noizemaze jerked his hand away from the silver spike and examined his hand. "... It bit me!"

"What do you mean 'it bit you'? It doesnt _have_ teeth to bite with!"

"Look! It bit me, I tell you! IT BIT ME!" Noizemaze made a point of it by holding his hand up in front of Sideways' optics. Sideways sighed.

"Just take it out before it _kills_ me."

"Now that wouldnt be too bad..."

"_What_!"

"Nothin'. Ow!"

"Now what?"

"It bit me again..."

"IT COULDNT BITE YOU IF IT HAD FANGS THAT WERE SEVENTY FEET LONG!"

"Nope, I could dodge that."

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU COMPLAIN- Wait... What did you say?"

"I said I could dodge that."

Sideways stared at Noizemaze thoughtfully as the orange-black bot made another attempt to remove the shard. Noizemaze winced as the silver spike cut deeper into his hand, and barely took his hand away in time as the shard sent a violent charge through itself. Bracing himself, Noizemaze grimanced.

"This is going to hurt, Sideways... But here goes nothin'..." He warned, before taking a grip on the spike again. Pushing the pain out of his mind, he pulled with all of his strength. Sideways let out a faint scream of pain- and then the shard was out.

"ARGH!" Noizemaze cried, dropping the shard, and held his hand painfully. He shivered suddenly as he examined his hand more closely. Sideways collapsed forwards, catching himself on his own hands.

"Blast..." Sideways gasped. Noizemaze whimpered slightly as he realized the damage done to his hand before moving over to the purple, grey, and yellow mech.

"We need to get out of here, brother, and fast... That shard was sending out a signal of some sort," Noizemazy said softly. Sideways cursed. _It's easy for the hunter to become the hunted,_ Sideways thought.

"Then let's get moving..." Sideways breathed, stumbling to his feet and both of them hurried deeper into the darkness towards the second door on the other side of the room...

* * *

Subi: WHEEE! That was fun... I think the next chapter's going to be a short one, guys, just to warn you all. 

Shiori: Well, short is better than ditching us somewhere. AND DONT LEAVE ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER OR I'LL COME AFTER YOU!

Subi: Speakin' of coming after people... What have you done with Optimus?

Shiori: That's a secret. (giggles)

Subi: ... WHERE IS HE, SHIORI?

Shiori: (rolling around on the ground with laughter) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Go find him!

Subi: I'm scared... OPTIMUS? (goes to look for him)

Optimus Prime: (standing at the other doorway, only 7 feet tall) ... _I'm going to get you for this_, Shiori... (glaring at her with death written on his face)

Shiori: O.O; I think I'm in trouble... (runs out with a faint scream)

Optimus Prime: (his roar still shakes the ground) SHIORI!


	22. Awakening

Subi: Aww... Its the last chapter of this three-four part story...

Shiori: What!

Optimus Prime: SHIORI! ARGH!... How did I get stuck in this room anyways? LET ME OUT, DARN YOU SISTER!

Shiori: Hehehehe...

Subi: O.o What... Why does Optimus sound so squeaky?

Optimus Prime: SQUEAKY?. !

Shiori: Uh oh, Now you did it.

Subi: Did _what_?

Shiori: Nevermind... Just post already.

**

* * *

22. Awakening **

They'd missed him. Somehow, someway, they'd missed their chance to finish off the Chaos Bringer's herald. Silvershadow and Megatron stood in the center of the dark room that Sideways and... _someone_... had been only moments before.

"_Blast!_" Megatron snarled, and slammed his fist into the wall. "Why can't _anything_ go right for once in life?"

"Because life doesn't like to be that way?" Silvershadow suggested, kneeling in the center of the room to pick up his sword's spike. He paused, noticing that the spike had a strange, black, liquid-like substance dripping from its edges onto the ground. "Megatron... Come look at this..." Silvershadow said slowly, taking a closer look himself. Megatron turned toward the mercenary and took two steps to get over to him before kneeling on the ground. The Decepticon examined the shard closely.

"It looks like he managed to get it out."

"No, not him. Someone else," Silvershadow shook his head. "Since when has Sideways ever had an actual _true_ form- like us- that bleeds?"

"Hmmm..." Megatron said thoughtfully. Silvershadow ran one of his claws down the side of the shard. The spike flashed with light, and jumped back to his sword and sealed itself to the blade. Silvershadow stood up and looked around at the darkness. _Something's not right… Sideways is definitely gone, as well as who took the shard out of his back… Who is this other spark that I'm feeling that's **still** here?_ The mercenary wondered, and with a quick decision, he slid into the darkness to hunt out the spark he felt nearby. After a moment, Megatron looked up and found that wasn't beside him anymore. The Decepticon leader stood.

"Now where did he go?... Silvershadow?" He called, and vaguely wondered if the mercenary had found something and left him on his own. Then there was a loud crash followed by a faint scream, and Megatron snapped his head around to see the mercenary's silver sword glowing faintly in Silvershadow's hand as he towered over a mech. Megatron started over to them, and stopped when he recognized the femmecon on the ground. His optics went wide in astonishment.

"Blazestorm…?" He whispered, afraid to believe what he was seeing. The femmecon looked at him.

"Megatron!" She gasped, scrambling to her feet and past Silvershadow- who stepped to the side to avoid getting run over- and into Megatron's arms. Her red, silver, and gold frame shook with relieved tears, and Megatron wrapped his arms around her, finally able to believe that she was real. Silvershadow glanced at them, and turned back to the direction they had come from. Seeing Silvershadow's glance, Megatron turned slightly, keeping his arms around his long-lost bondmate and gently started to lead her to a place where she could rest and be cared for…

* * *

Shiori sat in a booth in Hot Shot's diner near the park, cradling her daughter in her arms as she sipped on a Energon-1 drink thoughtfully. She could easily see Leo and Snarl playing with some small bots in the park through the window, and listened to the sounds of Hot Shot rummaging around in the kitchen behind the counter. 

"Now where did I put that...? Oh, here it is..." She heard him mutter. A few seconds later there was a loud clang. "Ow..."

"You alright back there, Hot Shot?"

"Yeah... Just.. hit my head under the counter... Dang, that hurt..." He popped up from the other side of the counter. "At least I found what I was lookin' for."

"Alright," She smiled as she glanced out the window again. Movement near the alley on the other side of the park caught her attention. Shiori tensed. _Sideways, or Optimus and Megatron?_ She asked herself uneasily. _'Shiori, stay where you know you'll be safe,'_ Optimus's warning ran through her mind. She watched the alley opening for a moment, knowing that even if it was Sideways, she could probably chase him away with Hot Shot's, Leo's, and Snarl's help. Shiori relaxed as Optimus, now back to his red, blue, and silver coloration, came out of the alleyway, followed by Megatron who had his arms around someone. Together, they walked through the park, heading toward's Hot Shot's diner. Leo stopped playing for a few minutes to bound over to Optimus and walk with the three of them to the edge of the park before dashing back to the game in time to swat a ball back at Snarl. The other three bots continued across the street and entered the diner.

"Hiya out there!..." Hot Shot called from the kitchen, still rustling around.

" 'Lo, Hot Shot," Optimus called back softly, before starting over to Shiori. After a few seconds, the blue-grey and yellow bot poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Can I get anything for you?" He asked before noticing the Decepticon leader. "Oh, hey Megatron. You want anything either?"

"If you wouldn't mind..." Megatron began, stepping closer to the counter as Optimus shook his head 'no'. Blazestorm glanced at the Decepticon leader before following Optimus. Hot Shot listened to Megatron for a moment, nodding every here and there before heading back into the kitchen.

"Would you mind if the three of us joined you, Shiori?" Optimus asked, gesturing at the table. Shiori shook her head, and moved over with her daughter in her arms so her brother could sit next to her.

"Go ahead, Optimus," She said, smiling at the red, silver, and gold femmebot. "You can sit here too if you want."

"Thanks," the other femmebot told her softly, looking slightly uneasy until Megatron came up beside her.

"Inside or outside, Blazestorm?" he asked.

"Inside," she said, blushing slightly. She slipped into the bench across from Shiori and Megatron sat down next to her as Optimus did the same next to Shiori.

"Did you catch Sideways?" Shiori asked them. Megatron shook his head. "He got away with some help. We're not sure who helped him," the Decepticon leader told her.

"Oh..."

"I don't think they'll be bothering you anytime soon, Shiori. You gave him a pretty good beating. He'll think twice before coming after you or your daugther," Optimus reassured her.

"He might think more times than that," Megatron added with a growl. "Trying to come after my second-in-command's wife...If _I'm_ not the one chasing Sideways away; When Starscream comes back Sideways will definitely be running... Starcream would go even crazier than Cyclonus if he finds out Sideways has tried to kill you..."

"Now I don't know about _that_," Shiori chuckled. "At least I know that you aren't angry at him because of me..."

"Why would I be?"

"Because," Optimus cut in, "Shiori is my sister, and used to be the Leader of Autobot City twenty-nine or thirty million years ago."

Megatron stared at the two of them in suprise. "I didn't know that..." He started to say, but trailed off as Shiori laughed.

"Not many knew. I don't think Starscream knew that Optimus was my brother until awhile after we were married. I don't think he ever met Optimus through me, actually... And I never told him that **_I_** was the Leader of Autobot City either."

"You're Starscream's wife?" Blazestorm asked.

"Yes, I am," Shiori confirmed with a nod.

"I was wondering why you looked familiar..."

"She was at my coronation a long time ago- well, at least a long time ago for _me_, I don't know how long it's been for you," Megatron explained.

"Oh."

"Alright, who wanted food?" Hot Shot asked as he came over with a few plates of food and some drinks. He quickly passed out the plates and drinks and then dashed back to the counter as another bot came in to order. Optimus tilted his head and frowned slightly.

"I didn't ask for food..."

"Well, I asked _for_ you, Prime. Now show some of that decency you seem to have and _eat _some of it," Megatron growled, taking a sip out of his drink.

"If you insist on it..."

"Of course I insist!"

"There's no need to shout at me," the Autobot leader rumbled slightly, taking a small bite ouf of some energon chips. The other three bots laughed.

"Stubborn as always, aren't you, Prime?"

"That's my brother for you... And always looking for a diplomatic solution..."

"Stubborn? No more than you are, Megatron."

"Oh _do_ be quiet, Prime..."

"Would you two knock it off?"

"Possibly..." "Depends..."

The four of them laughed again. After about an hour of chatting, they all rose (Megatron had already payed for the meal), and left the diner. Optimus walked Shiori and her sparkling to their new house in Iacon City.

It would be eight years before Starscream returned.

* * *

Subi: W00T! That's the end of "The Swords of Primus and Unicron I: Shiori's History". 

Shiori: Say _WHAT!_ It's the end already?

Subi: Hahahahaha... Time to move to "The Swords of Primus and Unicron II: Family Troubles".

Shiori: Uh oh... I don't know if I like the sound of that...

Subi: No one said you had to... By the way... Where's Optimus gotten to?

Shiori: Uhm... Well, you see...

Subi: What did you do with him?

Shiori: That's a little complicated to explain right now...

Optimus Prime: (still only 7 feet tall) LET ME OUT OF HERE! (pounds on door) (mutters) Blast... I hate being 7 ft tall... SUBI! SHE SHRANK ME!

Subi: WHAT!

Shiori: Erm... BYE! (runs away to try to escape both Optimus's & Subi's wrath)

Optimus & Subi: SHIORI! GET BACK HERE!


End file.
